


Ancient Magickes

by Flying_Dragonite



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Evil Voldemort, Handplates, Lily Potter Soul in Harry, Player and Frisk are separate entities, Protective Lily Potter, Second War with Voldemort, monster/human hybrid, player and chara are separate entities, voldemort soul shards in harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2018-09-13 00:24:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 33,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9097396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flying_Dragonite/pseuds/Flying_Dragonite
Summary: "Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom." Unbeknownst to both human and monsterkind, the term 'angel' dates back to before known history. Before the Barrier was raised, before the war was even a thought in the darkest of the humans and monsters. 'Angels' referred to those rare instances when a human and monster would come together to produce new life - a hybrid of human and monster. Long forgotten by all, there are those among the humans still carrying the potential to inherit these traits. Upon Harry Potter's 16th birthday, he finds himself receiving a creature inheritance of such monumental importance, that he may be the key to peace, between monsters and humans, purebloods and muggleborns, wizards and muggles. And he had always said he simply wanted to be "just Harry".





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! Whether you came here from fanfiction . net or found it here on archiveofourown, I hope you enjoy this story! It was a long time in coming, an Undertale fanfic from me, but I finally found one that I like and can stick to (That didn't get lost with a computer restart >,

Harry Potter lay awake the night before his 16th birthday, curled into a fetal position on his ragged bed. His emerald eyes stared into the corner of the room, distant and overflowing with pain-filled grief. It couldn’t be two months after losing Sirius; the pain was just as raw and sharp as if he had died the night before.

The grieving boy had not eaten in several days, and had not bathed in a much longer time; his aunt and uncle had stopped trying to get into the room after several days of futile banging on the magically-reinforced door.

A letter lay a few feet from Harry’s face. A letter from Dumbledore, stating that he’d be there to pick Harry up the afternoon of his birthday. Harry didn’t even care. As the clock ticked towards midnight, the boy didn’t move a muscle, lost in his own misery.

The moment the digital clock flicked from 11:59 to 12:00, Harry’s body spasmed as he was hit with a wave of agony unlike any he had ever felt before. His mouth fell open in a silent scream as one wave after another of intense pain wracked his body. He jerked and clamped onto his ratty sheets, knuckles white under the pressure of his grip. The sound of ripping fabric cut through the room, startling the snowy owl in the cage by the window.

A high, keening note echoed through the room before suddenly being cut off. Though one could see the veins and muscles in Harry’s neck stand out as he shrieked in agony, there was no sound –as if he had been magically silenced by whatever force was causing him this pain.

To Harry, it felt like his body was being ripped apart. His skin rippled and muscles stretched as drastic changes were forced on his body. His jaw ached as new teeth formed and old ones changed shape. His fingers cracked and creaked as they lengthened, the skin pulling tight against his bones and his nails grew, curving and sharpening into claws.  
His raven-black hair also lengthened, spilling out from its wild appearance into a slightly more feminine look as they eventually stopped growing as the new ringlets reached his shoulders. His ears stretched and pointed, growing a soft fuzz of black fur on them. His eyes slitted, though they remained the same brilliant emerald –if anything, their color sharpened and grew even more vibrant.

The last of the changes was not yet through, though. Harry threw back his head and howled as bones ripped through the skin under his shoulder blades, two new appendages emerging from the bloody mess of his back.

Brilliant white-and-silver feathers were hard to distinguish under the thick, clear jelly-like liquid and thinner red blood that covered them. Harry’s bones were being hollowed out as his new wings spread out for the very first time, blood and clear liquid dripping from them. His wingspan was three times that of his normal armspan, thus the edges of the wings brushed against the walls of the room as he lay on his bed, stomach-first.

Harry’s breathing was ragged and filled with soft whimpers –not that anyone could hear them. The only other occupant in the room was the afore-mentioned snowy owl, and as the worried familiar watched her master, space seemed to distort around the newly-transformed wizard. The room seemed to fold in on itself for a moment, blurring everything near and around Harry before the world righted itself, leaving behind nothing to suggest the young wizard had ever been lying on the bed in the first place. Not a drop of blood nor the wisp of a feather existed on the now-empty bed.

The snowy owl’s shrieks soon woke the other occupants of the house, but it was too late. Harry Potter –or what was left of him– was gone.


	2. Chapter 1: Reset No. 238

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Welcome back, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the prologue! I will warn you, I rated this story 'T' for a reason. It will get dark, as this is Undertale with many, many Genocide Routes, though none have gotten to the very end. We're dealing with the demon who comes when you call their name, after all. Anyway, enough with the dark stuff, you'll get enough of that in this chapter!
> 
> I had a question regarding pairings, and while I answered them in a pm, I figured I'd answer it here too. When plotting for this story, pairings weren't the most important thing I considered. There will be a brotherly bond between Sans, Papyrus, and Harry. I dislike the cannon pairings of HP/GW and HG/RW, and thus those will not be happening in this tale, regardless of where it leads us.
> 
> Also, feel free to PM me or leave a review with questions, though I wont guarantee I'll answer spoiler-y questions, I'll do my best to elaborate on things that may confuse people.
> 
> Alright, without further ado, let's get this chapter a-rollin', shall we? Enjoy!

Ear-splitting whines of high-energy bursts ebbed into echoes around the golden-lit hallway as the clatter of bones against stone faded out. The elaborate tiles were stained red with blood and Determination. A short skeleton wearing a puffy blue jacket and tattered red scarf stood over the remains of a young human child, his usual eye-lights gone, replaced by an empty socket and the quickly-fading, flashing blue-yellow conjured eye.

“That’s two-hundred and thirty-seven, kid,” The skeleton rasped out, his voice low and devoid of HoPe. “How many mor-”

He was cut off as the world rent itself around him, blurring and twisting as the timespace continuum tore apart. Said skeleton was no longer in existence. Nor was anything else. Then the world slammed back into place, but different than before.

It was now one month prior to that day in the golden corridor, and the skeleton was currently asleep on his old mattress, a ball of blankets and sheets half-draped over him. The difference between the HoPeless killer and this sleeping monster was stark.

The deep lines of misery and HoPelessness were gone from the skeletal monster’s face, erased by sleep and the tearing of the world.

A sudden banging startled the short skeleton awake, his left eye flaring but failing to light as his magical core started to pulse rapidly with fear.

“SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! GET UP ALREADY!” a nasally, loud voice announced from beyond the door.

Sans blinked hazily, confused, as the magic sparks attempting to light themselves faded, his eyes returning to their normal white pinpricks.

“p-papy…? papyrus?” Sans’ voice was confused and filled with pain. Hadn’t Papyrus… wasn’t he…? The thought escaped him as he lay there, blinking up at the blackness of his room.  Something was different, strange. Not right. He had to check the shed.

He forced himself to his feet, slouching over to the door and opening it, blinking against the bright light. A shadow fell over him, and he glanced up at his younger brother, the taller skeleton looking down at him disapprovingly.

“IT’S ABOUT TIME, SANS,” Papyrus stated, crossing his arms over his chest. He was wearing a grey t-shirt that stated ‘Cool Guy’, and a pair of shorts. Something about that seemed off, too, but Sans couldn’t place the feeling of wrongness.

He yawned; it was too early in the morning for this. “hey, bro” he greeted his brother lazily.

“DON’T ‘HEY, BRO’ ME, SANS!” Papyrus stated, giving him the evil eye. “YOU STILL HAVEN’T MOVED YOUR SOCK TO YOUR ROOM!”

“you told me not to bring it back to my room, bro”

“I TOLD YOU NOT TO BRING IT BACK TO THE LIVING ROOM FROM YOUR ROOM, SANS!!!” Papyrus shouted, throwing up his hands.

“heh. guess that was pretty _numbskull_ of me, wasn’t it, bro?”

Papyrus wailed at the pun. “WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME, SANS?”

“do what to you, bro? I’m just _ribbing_ ya”

“NGGGAAAAHHH! ENOUGH, SANS!” Papyrus yelled, apparently giving up as he walked toward the stairs.

“heh, ok, bro. just know that i’ve got a ton more of ‘em. a _skele-ton_.”

Papyrus moaned, burying his face in his hands. Then he looked up at Sans from the bottom of the stairs, a glint in his eye. “NYEH! YOU WILL HAVE TO TRY HARDER THAN THAT, SANS. ONE MIGHT SAY YOU’D BETTER … PUT A BIT MORE _BACKBONE_ INTO IT! NYEH-HEHEHEHEHEH!”

Sans chuckled as his brother disappeared from sight, presumably into the kitchen to make breakfast. This was the best time to check the shed, while his brother was distracted. Sans turned and walked decisively towards the wall, using a shortcut to teleport in front of the shed behind the house.

He unlocked the door and stepped inside warily, unsure what to expect. He froze as he noticed the thick coating of fine, white dust that layered much of the shed. He staggered forward to the counter, noticing half of a tattered red scarf –one he recognized. The scarf he was planning to give his brother for his birthday next week. Except, it wasn’t the same one. The scarf he had bought a month ago was secured in his room under his mattress, wrapped clumsily in brown wrapping paper.

This scarf was worn from use and so coated with dust, he knew it would never wash out. Sans shakily turned his attention from the scarf still hanging limply in his hand to the note beside it.

“ _papyrus is gone. everyone in snowdin is gone. and waterfall. and soon, hotlands. the human is killing everyone. its doing something to time, i know it. ive found 236 previous notes. the human doesnt kill every time. i dont know what it wants. its just a child, smaller than me, but it wields more LOVE than anyone, human or monster, ive ever seen before. its going to reach judgement soon._ _im scared”_

The last line made Sans’ metaphorical blood run cold. To admit that, even to himself, was a testament to how evil this kid had to be.

Sans’ phalanges reached for the first drawer under the counter, only to pause. 236 more notes. Could he even stand it? But he had to know. His finger bones clattered, shaking, as they reached for the drawer again.

In the drawer were more tattered scarves, and over a dozen notes, most detailing the same things. Genocide, the systematic killing of every monster Sans had ever known and many more he didn’t. Stories of finding monsters in the process of fading, only for the human to stare at him with cold, dead eyes.

Sans couldn’t find a rhyme or reason to the human’s actions. Sometimes it killed everyone, sometimes it only killed certain monsters, and others –the worst ones- it _befriended_ all the monsters. Even him. Those were the worst, the hardest to read about. Those were the ones that had made him HoPe. To read his own words of joy, to know that none of it mattered, was soul-crushing. He could feel his HoPe draining as he read more and more of his own words, found more scarves and piles of dust.

“ _im going to stop it before it reaches papyrus_ ,” read one note. Nothing else was written, and Sans felt that coldness climb his spine again. _That’s the expression of someone who’s died five times_.

And indeed, he found four more of the one-sentence notes, each a different monster that he tried to save.

It made no sense, though. If he hadn’t been there to Judge the human, who had? Had they not been Judged? If he had died five times, none in the Judgement Hall, what did that mean?

He rummaged around in the drawers for answers. It came near the bottom drawers, in the form of another note, accompanied by a strand of red hair. Undyne.

_"the human resets the world when it dies. ive found ten notes that end abruptly, detailing the human about to fight undyne. i watched instead of writing this note right away. the human knew undynes fighting style too well for it to be the first time. the moves were practiced, fluid. every time a monster kills it, it resets the world. how, i don’t know. but i intend to find out"_

So each time he had died, the human had to have died before reaching the Judgement Hall. Sans shook his head. His previous iterations had to have been very desperate to try to take on the human outside the Judgement Hall. When he was Judging a Soul, he was at his strongest. In his element, so to speak.

Outside of the Judgment Hall, when he wasn’t Judging a Soul, he was the weakest of the monsters. He had low HoPe to begin with, and the despair that must have brought him to the point of confronting the human early was bound to have wreaked even more havoc on it. Even with his shortcuts, he doubted he lasted long against the human any time he tried it outside the Judgement Hall.

Sans closed his eyes. He knew the timeline now. He had a little under a month to think of some new way to stop the human, that he hadn’t already tried the last 237 tries. He swore he could _feel_ his HoPe dropping as he contemplated it.

“SANS! WHERE ARE YOU, LAZYBONES?! YOU BETTER NOT HAVE GONE BACK TO BED!” Papyrus called from in the house.

Sans sighed, closing his eyes from the wave of pain that washed over him. If he didn’t figure something out, he was going to lose his brother for the nth time.

He couldn’t let Papyrus know something was wrong, though. He forced a smile on his face and used a shortcut to teleport to the kitchen. He took a seat at the table, his brother standing in the entrance to the kitchen with his back to him.

“hey, bro. what’s for breakfast?” he greeted the back of his brother’s skull.

Papyrus startled, turning to see Sans sitting at the table, his slippered feet on the table, the chair perched precariously on two legs. Papyrus’ eyes narrowed.

“SANS! GET YOUR FEET OFF THE TABLE!” He chided his older brother, his hands settling at his hips.

“aw, throw me a bone, bro,” Sans yawned.

“THAT WAS TERRIBLE, SANS!” Papyrus scolded. “BESIDES, HOW ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO EAT IF YOUR FEET ARE ON THE TABLE?”

Sans shrugged.

Papyrus crossed the kitchen, setting down a slightly-too-brown plate of waffles. Sans wasn’t looking forward to the spaghetti fad he knew was coming, so he scarfed down the waffles gratefully.

“heh. thanks, bro. too bad these waffles will go right through me,” he said, throwing in a wink for good measure. It worked –Papyrus groaned, throwing his head back.

“GET OUT OF HERE, SANS! DON’T THINK YOU’LL SKIP OFF ON SENTRY DUTY JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD YET!” Papyrus shouted.

Sans tilted his head to the side. “geez, paps, no need to get so _sternum_ ,” he quipped, and found himself thrown out of the house, into a snow poff. He laid there for a bit before Papyrus realized he wasn’t going to get up by himself.

“WHY MUST YOU BE SO LAZY, SANS?!” Papyrus bemoaned, picking up his older brother and setting him on his feet. “GO TO YOUR SENTRY STATION, AND STAY THERE!”

“ok”

“AND DON’T FALL ASLEEP!”

“ok”

“I MEAN IT, SANS!”

“ok”

Papyrus sighed. “AND SANS?”

“yeah, bro?”

“BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.” Papyrus paused for a moment, and Sans was silent, shocked. “AFTER ALL, YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR AMAZING BROTHER WATCHING YOUR BACK YET!”

“heh, that’s right, bro,” Sans replied. “youre the best, bro”

“THAT’S RIGHT! AFTER ALL, I AM THE _GREAT_ PAPYRUS!”

“that you are, bro. that you are”

With those parting words, Sans trudged away through the snow, sneaking through a shortcut as soon as he was out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Wellp. That was depressing. But fun to write, especially Sans' puns. I love puns so much, especially skele-puns! ^^


	3. A Broken Child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry for being late on this one; I meant to upload this a few days ago but life got in the way of my weekly schedule! Anyway, enjoy, though this one is shorter than the last chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter will be uploaded sooner rather than later to make up for it~

Whilst Sans was waking to an old nightmare, the young Harry Potter was waking to a new one. The ripping of the timespace continuum during the moment of his inheritance had wreaked havoc on his newly-formed body, not to mention the damage to his Soul and magical core.

All Harry knew was intense pain and the biting, cruel cold. His hands, now so thin one could see the outline of his bones beneath the skin, scrabbled against the powdery snow beneath him, sinking and slipping across the frozen water crystals.

His legs were crumpled beneath him, the snow melting from his body heat and soaking into the too-big, ripped sweatpants. His new wings were spread-eagled along his back and trailing into the snow, the silver and white feathers still wet with blood, and now, snow.

His chest was bare against the cold forest floor, his raggedy shirt ripped to shreds in his transformation and lost to the distortion of space that had sent him here. The boy was barely even conscious, only aware of the pain and cold. A high, keening note rang through the air, unconsciously streaming from the boy's throat.

 _But nobody came_.

Harry whimpered as his eyes fluttered open, only to shut again instantly, the glare of light against the snow blinding to his sensitive new eyes. He moaned, bringing one skeletally-thin hand to block the light as his eyes opened once more, allowing them to adjust.

He stared blearily for a moment, watching his surroundings slowly come into focus. He was in the middle of a snowy forest, surrounded by tall, bare trees on all sides. It made no sense to the boy's confused mind. He had been at the Dursley's. And besides, it was _s_ _ummer_! How could it be snowing, even if they had dumped him somewhere?

Then he realized that he couldn't feel his glasses on his face. His hand reached for his cheeks, feeling for the thick, rounded black spectacles that he always wore, but they were nowhere to be found. Somehow he was seeing this all with perfect clarity! It made even less sense than the snow. He was blinder than a bat without them. How could he suddenly see fine without them?

He shifted his body, and cried out as a spasm shot down his spine, radiating from just underneath his shoulder blades. He placed his hands below his chest and pushed upward, gasping at the bolts of agony shooting through him at every movement, but not letting the pain beat him.

He sat on his knees, the damp fabric getting more soaked. He reached around gently with one hand to feel at his back, only to run into something large and firm first. It felt soft and feathery, but there was a slick, sticky, and strangely grainy substance covering it. He pulled his hand back, staring at his fingers incomprehensively.

His fingers were covered in red blood, mixed with a fine light powder. He would have thought it to be snow, but it didn't melt under the heat from his body. It was like sand, or ash… He turned his head to look at whatever had been blocking him from inspecting the damage with his hands.

A shocked yell echoed through the seemingly empty forest. Two huge wings jutted from Harry's back. The colors of the feathers ranged from a brilliant white –enough to rival the snow around him- to a darker silvery-grey as the feathers grew closer to his spine.

Harry dropped his head into his hands, closing his eyes in protest to the changes occurring to him. Couldn't he be normal, just once in his life? He began to cry; great, wracking sobs poured out of him. He had never allowed himself to properly grieve for Sirius, keeping everything bottled up inside of him. Now everything poured out: Sirius' death, the changes to his body, and him being lost in a cold, lonely forest.

Fate truly hated Harry Potter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: Well, we returned to Harry's story and what a depressing end! yaaaaaay. Don't worry, I've only begun to wreak havoc on poor Harry's life before changing it around for the better. Only got love for Harry here, folks <3


	4. Rib-Tickling Puns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Aha! I finally upload on time for once! And we come to the moment I think a lot of you have been waiting for: Sans and Harry finally meet! Oooooh, I wonder what's going to happen?! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Sans trudged through the snowy forest absentmindedly. His thoughts were swirling, desperately trying to come up with a solution to the human problem. There didn't seem to be anything the other Sans' hadn't tried, though. Sans halted in the middle of the forest, staring down at the frosty ground dejectedly.

Then a sound captured his attention. It sounded like a yell of surprise and … horror? Cold that had nothing to do with the temperature of Snowdin Forest shot up Sans' spine. It was too early for the human to appear!

He headed toward the sound, regardless, using his shortcuts to melt through the air and travel faster, keeping them short so as to not run headlong into whatever danger there was lurking ahead.

He skidded to a stop as long, drawn-out sobs began echoing through the forest. They were… horrible, gut-wrenching sobs. The sobs of someone who has just lost everything most near and dear to them. Sans' heart sunk, his HoPe dropping a few more points.

He didn't want to step into the open, see the tragedy that was surely spread among the snow now, like a fine layer of ash… But he had to see. Had to make sure it was the human.

He peered around the large tree, only to pull up short. No scene of terror awaited him; instead, a monster about his height, with huge silver wings draped over most of its body, sat on the frozen ground, sobbing. Sans could see its raven-black hair spilling across its neck, fuzzy black ears pulled back against the monster's head as their owner sobbed its sorrows to the snow-laden forest floor.

Sans felt as if he had intruded upon a very private moment, and backed up a little, preparing to leave, to give the monster space. He missed the stick under his foot in his preoccupation, and stepped on it, sending a loud cracking noise echoing around them. Sans froze, closing his eyes and cursing his carelessness.

The monster lifted its head sharply, and Sans felt his eyes drawn immediately into the piercing, emerald-green eyes. They were filled with a deep sorrow, pain, and despair. Sans was intimately familiar with the emotions in those eyes –he felt those emotions even now.

The monster sucked in a sharp breath; a fear-laden gasp. Sans wasn't physically able to frown, but he felt like doing so, his permanent smile fading a little. Why would the monster be afraid of him? Sans dragged his eyes away from the monster's emerald ones and focused on the monster's face, only to gasp himself.

There, peering from the body of a monster, was a human face. Full, pale-pink skin stretched over a skull not unlike Sans' own, a small nose perched over swollen pink lips and angular chin that was just starting to grow a bit of stubble. Sans' eyes darted down to the mons- hum-  _thing's_  hands, noticing the pale, thin skin over bones that exactly mirrored his own, yet claws emerged from the nailbeds, razor-sharp as any feline monster's.

"w-what….  _are_  you?" Sans whispered, warily, anxiously.

The thing gave an incredulous laugh, causing Sans to flinch. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same question. You look like the Grim Reaper… if the Grim Reaper wore a blue puff jacket and jersey shorts…" the thing's voice was softer than Sans had expected, a young alto voice for such an adult-looking …. thing.

Sans couldn't help but smile a little more genuinely at the thing's attempt at humor, though the statement proved that it was at the very least, well-versed in human myths. "heh. youre making me feel  _old in my bones_ , kid. do i look as  _boney_  as the grim reaper to you? i know my cheekbones are sharp, but i dont think theyre good enough to be a scythe"

The human-monster thing stared at him for a second, mouth agape.

Sans winked, grin widening. "did i hit a  _funny bone_ there, kid? cuz,  _tibia_  honest, you look  _sternum_ -struck"

The other began spluttering incoherently. "Did you just- I mean- what did you- I –whaaat?!" he eventually spat out. "Were you just making  _bone puns_?"

Sans shrugged. "sure, i’ve got a  _skele-ton_  of  _skele-puns._  i think they’re pretty  _humerus_ "

The thing –male- threw his bony hands up in the air. "Great. Not only do I get changed into some freak of nature, but the Grim Reaper stops by to share a surplus of un-funny skeleton puns just to make my day," he grumbled.

Sans' grin widened. "i must be having a  _femur_  dream, or you’re  _patellan_  a  _fibula,_  cuz these jokes are  _fabellas_ "

The other male groaned, burying his face into his hands. "Please go away," the request was muffled by the hands, but Sans could still understand him.

Sans sighed. "look, kid-"

"'m not a kid," came the grumbled response.

"that response only proves my statement true," Sans replied easily, causing another groan from the kid. "kid. where are you from? how did you get here?"

"London. And I don't know. I was in my room and suddenly everything hurt and then I woke up here, looking like a freak of nature."

Sans' browbone furrowed. London? What was that? It had to be a place Above. And the second part of the male's answer –he didn't always look like this. "what did you look like before?"

"Like a normal human!" the –human(?) shouted, raising his head and glaring at Sans. "I was normal!" He seemed to be trying to convince himself. He was hiding something, but Sans didn't know what.

Sans wanted to check the other male's Soul, yet… he didn't want to start a fight he wasn't prepared for. He couldn't get a reading on this guy, his eyelights searching the other's face for something that didn't seem to be there. The male seemed to exhibit both human and monster traits, not just physically but emotionally, too.

Quick to anger, yet strangely soft spoken, this male carried the same sort of sadness that Sans saw in nearly all monsters. The sorrow of a great loss, a disparity of HoPe. Checking the male's stats was easy enough – LV 1 (thank goodness), Def 25 (holy shit), Atk 10, HP… 5. Sans sucked in a surprised gasp. He had never seen a human or monster with such low HoPe aside from his own… what had this boy gone through in his life to make his HoPe so incredibly low?

He had to see the male's soul now. Sans approached the other cautiously. "hey, kid. i wanna check your Soul, alright? dont go freaking out on me, now…"

The boy looked up at him with confusion. "What? So you really  _are_  the Grim Reaper, come to judge my soul?"

Sans gave a humorless chuckle. "heh. while its true, i  _do_  Judge Souls, thats not here and now. i… im simply curious. why you’re like this, now. your Soul might be able to help with a, uh,  _diagnosis_ "

The other put his head back into his hands. "Yeah, whatever. It's not like I can do anything about it," he mumbled.

Sans hesitated at the defeatist tone, pity coursing through him. Then he steeled himself, and brought forward the other's Soul. What he found stunned him, more than anything had ever stunned him before.

"Woah. That feels… weird," the male muttered, seemingly unaware of the shock he had just caused the skeleton monster. He reached out to cradle the Soul, and gasped, jerking his hands back. " _Woah_. W-what? T-this… this is my soul?" he questioned, looking up at Sans. "What? What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the utter shock on the skeleton's face.

Sans blinked a few times, shaking his head. What he was seeing was impossible. It couldn't exist. It just wasn't possible.

Floating in front of the boy was a Soul unlike any Sans had ever seen. It glowed with a soft, white light, a tell-tale sign of a monster Soul, yet as one's eyes traveled into the Soul, the white faded gradually into a deep, Integrity blue at the Soul's core. The Soul also aligned in a strange way –it was sitting sideways, rather than facing one way or the other, unlike human and monster Souls.

"a  _hybrid_ " Sans breathed. "how is this possible? nothing like this has ever happened before"

"Hybrid? Hybrid of  _what_ , exactly?" the boy complained.

"human… and monster" Sans was still stunned, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

" _Monster_? That's not- I'm n- I'm not a MONSTER!" the hybrid shouted. "Just because I… I  _look_  different! I'm not a bad person! I'm… I'm not…" his voice faded, hurt and scared.

Sans blinked, shaking his head. "not that kind of monster, kid.  _monster_ , as in the classification of beings."

The boy blinked in confusion. "What?"

Sans sighed. " _i’m_  a monster, one of many. a skeleton monster,  _tibia_  exact. if you hadn't guessed that already. heh… i forget how much you humans dont know, anymore. you all locked us down here, threw away the key, and then proceeded to just…  _forget_  about us"

The boy swallowed thickly, looking down at his hands. "Yeah… humans are good at that," he whispered.

Sans sighed, feeling great pity for the young hybrid. "well, kid. i'll tell you what i know of our history. your history now, too, it seems"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Aw man, we always seem to end these chapters on low notes. I'll try to work on that. Well, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I always enjoy writing Sans' puns the most. They're so fun to think up and share with all my friends! hehe!


	5. PAPYRUS! And... Puns...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: YAY another upload ON TIME! I'm loving how this story is turning out. I have several chapters pre-written ahead of time, that's how I'm getting these out so fast (comparatively to my other fics). I'm about five chapters ahead at this point and things are going great. Things have taken a slightly different turn than I expected -that's how things go sometimes as characters do things you don't expect them to do, but I'm liking how it turned out anyway so I'm rolling with it. Slightly changing how I originally intended some events to go, but what can you expect? The original story shouldn't change too much. I did want to mention that Harry's Soul looks like this: http: // i37. servimg . com / u /f3 7/ 18/ 72/ 40/ 82/ harry_ 10. png (take out the spaces) in case you didn't get enough of an explanation to fully understand.

Harry didn't know what to think. His world had upturned so suddenly that he was left scrambling to put the pieces back together, only to find that the pieces he thought he knew had changed, inexplicably, and now he was left with a puzzle completely different from the one he had started with.

The grim reaper-like creature was sitting beside him, seemingly content to let him work through things on his own. Speaking of, he still didn't know the…  _monster_ (?)'s name. He peered through one eye at the skeleton, who was leaning against a tree, looking a bit bored, though it was hard to tell with the –assumed- permanent smile on his skull. At least, Harry  _thought_  the monster was a male. He sounded male when he talked.

"My name is Harry," he said suddenly.

The skeleton opened one eye –how could he close them, anyway?- and looked at Harry, a browline rising above the eye. (Again, how was the skull making all these expressions when it was made of bone?) "heh. the name's Sans, kid"

The skeleton extended a hand for Harry to shake, and the young wizard stretched out his own arm to meet the other's hand.

PFFFBBBBT!

Harry blinked in shock as a fart noise exploded through the air. Sans' grin widened, growing more genuine as he pulled his hand away, exposing a whoopee cushion that disappeared into the skeleton's coat sleeve. "heh. the ol' whoopee cushion in the hand trick. its  _always_  funny"

Harry couldn't help but let out a disbelieving snort. This guy was something else, for sure. "So, the term… 'monster', it refers to your species? And like, whether someone is a skeleton or rabbit is like your race?" Harry checked.

Sans nodded. "it's a bit more complicated than that, but generally, yes"

Harry sighed. "And we humans… we locked you guys down here with no way out, no way of knowing if you could survive down here with no food or water or power…"

Sans' eyelights flickered, disappearing for a moment. "yes"

Harry closed his own eyes, as if he could deny the accusation by hiding from the pain in Sans' expression. It wasn't just any humans who had sealed the monsters underground… it had been wizards. Of course. The most intolerant of the human species.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, knowing that it could in no way make up for what had been done to Sans, to the whole of the monster species. A breeze fluttered past, sending a blast of cool air against Harry's bare chest, and he shivered. He had almost forgotten where they were, in his panic and disbelief.

Sans noticed, and stood up. "wellp. we'd better get you a shirt, you look like your freezing right  _down to the bone_. 'sides, Papyrus is probably blowing a  _casket_  wondering why i'm not at my sentry post."

Harry chuckled disbelievingly. "You're not funny," he told Sans, shaking his head. He stood as well, noticing that he was about the same height as the short skeleton. "Who's Papyrus?"

"my little bro" Sans replied, his eyelights gleaming fondly.

Harry smiled sadly. "You have a little brother? That's great; I bet you guys have lots of fun together…"

Sans grinned. "yup. he finds  _ulna_  puns  _humerus_ "

"Come on, that one was reaching a bit, don't you think?" Harry retorted, rolling his eyes.

"is that a short joke? it went  _right over my head_ "

Harry sighed, shaking his head. Then an idea occurred to him and he turned an eye onto Sans, a mischievous smile on his face. "Wow, Sans. I didn't know you could  _stoop that low_."

Sans' eyelights gleamed. "heh. good one, kid, but i've got a  _skele-ton_  more where that came from."

"Booo, you've used that one before!" Harry complained good-naturedly.

Sans shrugged. "what can i say? i'm lazy… you could even say I'm  _bone idle_ "

"Wow, you're really pulling out all the  _stapes_  now, aren't you?" Harry shot back.

"is there an  _ischium_  growing between us? we're getting too  _distal_ " Sans winked at him as they parted around a tree in their path.

"I think you're  _scalping_  at the bottom of the barrel, now."

"well, you are kinda putting me on the spot here, i'm feeling a  _little small_ "

"Then you don't have to  _reach_  too far, do you?"

"ouch, i'll have to put some  _ice_  on that burn. but it's  _snow_  problem, there's plenty to go around"

"SAAAAAAAAANS! I CAN FEEL YOUR PUNNING…  _IN MY BONES_! NYEH-HEHEHEHEH!" A tall skeleton emerged from the trees ahead of them.

"hey, bro" Sans greeted the larger skeleton.

Harry blinked. "That's your  _little_  brother?" he stage-whispered –leaning over and whispering out the side of his mouth- to Sans.

"what can i say? guess i got the  _short_  end of the bone" Sans shrugged.

Harry snorted as the larger skeleton came to a stop in front of them.

"WHO IS THIS, BROTHER? AND WHY ARE YOU NOT AT YOUR SENTRY STATION? YOU'RE NOT TAKING ANOTHER 'BREAK', ARE YOU?" The other skeleton, Papyrus, was loud even when right next to them, and his tone was disapproving as he stared down at the smaller figures of Sans and Harry.

"this is Harry, bro. he's new to the area, so i figured i'd show him around"

"WOWIE! IT'S NOT LIKE YOU TO OFFER TO GIVE NEWCOMERS A TOUR, SANS! …THAT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE THERE ARE NEVER ANY NEWCOMERS! NYEH! WELCOME, HARRY! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND IT IS A PLEASURE FOR YOU TO MEET ME!" Papyrus took his attention off of Sans to hold out a hand for Harry to shake.

Harry was taken aback by the confidence –bordering on narcissism- of the larger skeleton. Sans was so laid back and chill that Papyrus immediately stood out as different to Harry. He held out a hand, and Papyrus gripped it with surprising gentleness, for someone of his intensity, giving it a few shakes before letting go.

"ALLOW ME TO WALK WITH YOU! SANS IS SURE TO GIVE UP HALFWAY THROUGH THE TOUR AND JUST GO TO GRILLBY'S, THE LAZYBONES!" Papyrus invited himself, and Harry couldn't think of a legitimate reason to say no.

"heh, you're right, bro. you wanna take Harry for the tour while i have my mid-midmorning break?" Sans agreed easily. Harry shot the smaller skeleton a look of panic, but Sans either didn't see or ignored it.

"SAAAANS! I DID NOT OFFER TO COME WITH YOU SO THAT YOU COULD SKIP OUT BEFORE THE TOUR EVEN BEGAN!" Papyrus scolded. "BESIDES, THAT WOULD BE INCREDIBLY RUDE TO HARRY!"

"alright, bro. i'll come but you know i'm not good at telling stories. why don't you tell Harry about everything and i'll just walk with ya?"

Papyrus sighed. "FINE, SANS! COME ALONG, HARRY! WE HAVE LOTS OF PLACES TO SEE!"

Harry glanced at Sans nervously. Papyrus didn't seem to realize that he was anything other than a fellow monster, but what about the other monsters? Would they just see his monster features too, or would some of them recognize him as human?

Sans met his gaze calmly. "its alright, kid. i'll keep an eye socket out for ya" He winked at Harry. Harry didn't feel reassured, but he didn't really have a choice. He was still shivering from the cold and he hoped that the place they were taking him would have some warm places and maybe a shirt or two for him.

So he trudged through the snow after Papyrus, his trainers already soaked from the previous trek through the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: HAH! More puns! My favorite! Again, I do love the puns. I don't think I'll ever get tired of them. Anyway, be sure to leave a comment with any questions or concerns you might have, I'll do my best to answer them in a reply if you're on archiveofourown or in a pm if your on fanfiction! Love ya guys! Thanks for reading!


	6. Bridge over Troubled ...Snow?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: SURPRISE! YOU GET TWO CHAPTERS TODAY! AND A CHAPTER TOMORROW! BECAUSE WHY NOT! NO, I KNOW WHY! –Dances around- Because my commission is done! –twirls- Yep, boys and girls! I had a super-secret project done for you guys! I spent $20 I made cleaning my grandmother's office on an art commission of Harry in his hybrid form so I could show YOU GUYS what I was picturing him as :DDDD (Also for my own enjoyment because Breigrace has awesome arting skillzzzz). And I have a lot of chapters written so I was like: why not release some chapters early I'm breezing through this story for once in my life! So SURPRISE YOU GUYS ARE GETTING GIFTS LEFT AND RIGHT FROM ME! So just go to deviantart and look up my username flyingdragonite, and you'll be led right to me! If you feel inclined to stick around, who am I to judge? *wink*

Sans watched Harry follow along behind his brother, nervousness showing in the hesitance of his movements and the stiffness of his limbs. The hybrid was a strange difference in this timeline. Sans was positive that if a hybrid had appeared in any of the previous iterations, the other Sans' would have mentioned it.

What had changed, to make Harry show up? And how was the hybrid even possible? Sans had  _never_  heard of a human/monster hybrid, and he had done a lot of research about humans and monster history, from even before the Barrier was raised. He was going to have to talk to the King, though he had to be careful how he approached it, lest Asgore set the Royal Guard after Harry.

Sans was surprised by his own protectiveness of the young hybrid, but Harry just had something about him that refused to let Sans distrust him. Perhaps it was that Integrity core of his Soul, or his genuine enjoyment of puns, even if he pretended to be exasperated by them –like Papyrus. Sans liked to think that he was a good judge of character, and he hoped that he was right about Harry. The kid didn't seem anything like the humans who had come before him.

The short skeleton knew that Harry had experienced something horrible Above, why else would his HoPe be so low? And the cracks through the hybrid's Soul –it could have been from the melding of human and monster, but Sans didn't think that was the only cause. And while Harry had seemed confused about the classification of 'monster', he hadn't been very shocked by Sans' appearance.

He didn't know what to think of the hybrid, really. Harry was an amalgamation of contradictions; while claiming not to know what monsters were or their story, he seemed familiar with the concept of non-human sentience. And while appearing disgusted by the humans' actions, he definitely wasn't surprised by their story. Harry knew something that he wasn't telling, but what, Sans did not know. And he didn't like not knowing.

So as they approached the bridge that led to Snowdin Town, Sans resolved to do exactly as he had told Harry: keep an eyesocket on the kid. Two, if he could.

Harry halted at the edge of the bridge, looking down into the deep cavern, eyes wide. Papyrus didn't notice the hybrid's hesitation, and strode out onto the bridge without a care, before looking back, finally noticing that Harry wasn't following him. Sans watched the kid carefully, analyzing the hybrid's reaction.

"HARRY! WHY DID YOU STOP? DON'T TELL ME YOUR TAKING A 'BREAK' LIKE SANS!" Papyrus announced loudly.

Sans noted the skeletal hands clench, the thin layer of skin stretching taut over the bones underneath.

"Uh… there isn't a handhold," Harry pointed out, voice shaking slightly.

Papyrus frowned in confusion. "DO YOU NEED ME TO HOLD YOUR HAND, HARRY?" He asked innocently.

Harry jerked his head back. "What? No! I mean, like a rope to put your hand on! Like, to keep your balance? What if we fell into the cavern?"

Papyrus' face brightened. "NYEH-HEHEHEH! DO NOT WORRY, HARRY. THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER LOSE HIS BALANCE!"

"Yeah sure,  _you_  won't, but what about me?" Harry muttered lowly, Sans only barely picking up the quiet complaint. Sans grinned.

"hey, bud. you'll do fine. the bridge is solid; its not going to sway under your feet or nothin," Sans said, putting his hands into his coat pockets.

Harry sent him a disbelieving look.

"what? you think i'm telling a  _fibula_? i'm  _patellan_  ya the truth, kid"

"SAAAAAAANS! STOP BEING A BAD INFLUENCE!" Papyrus shouted, stomping his foot.

Harry watched the bridge worriedly, but it didn't move an inch. Sans watched as the muscles in the kid's neck contracted with a swallow. The kid seemed to steel himself as he finally stepped onto the thin wooden planks that bridged the canyon, cringing as he did so.

The overpass didn't move, creating a stable path to walk across. Once on the platform, the boy hurried across, nearly overtaking Papyrus in his panic. Sans took a leisurely stroll over after the others, his hands still stuffed in his pockets.

"see, what'd i tell ya? i knew you'd  _get over it,_ " Sans winked at the kid.

"OH MY GOD, SANS! ENOUGH WITH THE PUNS!" Papyrus shouted, exasperated.

Harry shook his head, but Sans caught a glimpse of a small smile before it disappeared again. "S-so… where are we going, exactly? A town, you said?" Harry questioned, looking at Sans.

"YES! WE ARE GOING TO SNOWDIN TOWN, HARRY!" Papyrus announced happily.

The kid's expression froze. "'Snowed in' town? Seriously?" He muttered. Sans let out a chuckle behind him.

"what's wrong, kid? not punny enough for you?"

Harry threw him an unamused glare, but Sans' grin only grew. This kid was as fun to tease as Papyrus.

"SANS!" Papyrus snapped. "IF YOU MAKE ONE MORE PUN, I'M GOING TO THROW YOU INTO ANOTHER SNOW POFF!"

" _snow_  problem, Paps. it'll just become a  _sans_ poff"

"NYYYAAAARRRGGHHH!" Sans found himself lifted by his brother and tossed into a snow drift gently.

Sans laid there for a moment before lifting his head out of the snow, just in time to hear Papyrus respond to something the kid had said.

"NYEH-HEHEHEHEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS KEEPS HIS WORD! EVEN WHEN HE IS CLEARLY BEING BAITED!"

Sans snickered and let his head drop again, waiting for Papyrus to pick him up. Sure enough, a few moments later, he was lifted out of the snow impatiently.

"SANS! YOU ARE TO GET UP AND STOP MAKING THOSE TERRIBLE PUNS, OR I'LL TELL GRILLBY TO STOP SERVING YOU KETCHUP!" Papyrus threatened.

Sans' eyes widened. "h-heh, now Papyrus… you couldn't do that to your bro, could ya?"

"I CAN AND I WILL, SANS! KETCHUP IS HORRIBLY BAD FOR YOU, AND AS YOUR AMAZING BROTHER, I WILL ONLY ALLOW IT IN MODERATION. THAT MEANS AS A PROPER SAUCE, NOT DRUNK LIKE IT'S GOLDEN-FLOWER TEA, SANS!"

Sans distantly heard the kid gagging. "Wait, you…  _drink_  ketchup? Like, as a drink?"

"HE MOST CERTAINLY DOES, HARRY! A MOST UNHEALTHY HABIT, IF YOU ASK ME!" Papyrus informed the hybrid.

Papyrus set Sans down, and he noticed the look of disgust on the kid's face. He struggled not to speak the pun that was dancing on his metaphorical tongue. Papyrus eyed him suspiciously.

"DON'T DO IT, SANS," he advised the smaller skeleton, before turning back to Harry. "COME ALONG, YOUNG HARRY! WE'RE ALMOST TO SNOWDIN!"

Harry sent Sans an amused look before following the taller skeleton once more. Sans' grin grew sharp. The kid was  _so_  going to get it once Papyrus wasn't around to hear. And he was going to have to have a talk with Grillby. Papyrus couldn't get around his puns by threatening to remove his ketchup vendor! Nobody out-smarted Sans, pun-master extraordinaire!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Well, Sans seems to have something up his sleeves now. Better watch out Papyrus! Hehe. And you guys better head over to deviantart to check out Harry if you haven't already! Or head down to the comment section if you already have. If you've already done THAT, head on over to the next chapter then


	7. Snowy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I'd like to address a review posted on fanfiction by a guest named 'Delta'. They very politely pointed out that my prophecy stated in the description wasn't entirely correct, and that the true prophecy went as stated: "the Angel who has seen the Surface WILL RETURN, and the Underground will go empty." While this isn't the exact wording of the prophecy stated according to the game, the gist is the same, wherein the angel RETURNS, rather than the angel simply seeing the surface and coming to the Underground. I'd like to thank them for pointing out this mistake. I took my interpretation of the prophecy directly from the words of Gerson rather than the wall writings and that's where I made my mistake, so I'm going to keep it that way, as Delta also pointed out how it would ruin my story as I've written it so far. So unless I want to retcon somehow that Harry's Soul has been in the Underground before, I have to keep the prophecy the way it is now. Thank you all for sticking with me through my mistakes though! : )

Harry didn't know what to think about the two skeletal brothers. He didn't really understand how Sans could act so happy and joke around all the time, if the story he had told Harry was true. How could anybody be happy in a place like this, trapped underground for eternity, with no hope of escape? Sure, the jokes staved off the depression for a moment, but eventually they would get stale, Harry was sure, if they hadn't already for the skeleton bros.

Perhaps that was why Papyrus acted so exasperated with Sans' puns –he'd probably heard them all before. Who knows how long they had lived here for –it wasn't exactly easy to tell the age of the skeleton monsters- doing the same old thing day in and day out, no end in sight to the monotony… Harry couldn't begin to imagine how all the monsters must have suffered. And now, he was trapped, too.

A soft, electric light was glowing against the snow a couple meters out, and Harry could see the silhouettes of houses in the distance. He gritted his teeth. These monsters weren't going to hurt him. They weren't like human monsters. If Papyrus was any indication, they wouldn't even know that he wasn't a monster like them; he just had to play it cool.

So he continued following Papyrus, despite his better judgement. A large sign welcomed them; 'Welcome to Snowdin!' it read. Christmas lights were wrapped around the sign, and Harry was taken aback by the sight of them. "You guys have Christmas?" he asked without thinking.

Papyrus turned and eyed him strangely, and Harry felt his cheeks redden, his breathing quickening as he began to panic. "I DIDN'T KNOW GIFTMAS WAS KNOWN OUTSIDE OF THE SNOWDIN AREA! YOU GUYS CALL IT 'CHRISTMAS'? THAT'S A WEIRD NAME…" Papyrus announced.

"Uhhhhh…" Harry replied intelligently, scrambling for something to say.

"i'm sure that's what you meant to say, right, kid?" Sans chimed in, throwing Harry a sharp look.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I misspoke! I meant to say 'Giftmas'!" Harry quickly agreed.

Papyrus raised a brow –seriously, how were the skeletons doing that?!- but he shrugged, dismissing it as unimportant. "ALRIGHT, IF YOU SAY SO… INDEED, HARRY, WE DO CELEBRATE GIFTMAS HERE IN SNOWDIN! IT ORIGINATED HERE, YOU KNOW! SOME MONSTERS FOUND THESE PRETTY LIGHTS AND SOME HUMAN MAGAZINES IN THE DUMP, AND DECIDED IT WAS A GREAT IDEA!"

Harry was confused; they had access to human things down here? How was that even possible? He didn't say anything, though, afraid of showing his ignorance. He'd have to talk to Sans about this stuff later when no-one else was around to hear.

"IN ANY CASE, WELCOME, YOUNG HARRY, TO SNOWDIN!" Papyrus announced, spreading his arms out wide.

Harry gave Papyrus a weak smile; the tall skeleton seemed to take it as encouragement. He beckoned the small hybrid forward, pointing out the sights as they passed them. "THAT'S THE SNOWDIN SHOP! AND THE SNOWD INN, RIGHT NEXT TO IT! THEY'RE RUN BY MRS. AND MRS. LAPIN! THEY ARE SISTERS, LIKE ME AND SANS ARE BROTHERS!"

Harry shook his head at the continued use of puns in naming. These monsters had an obsession with puns and lame jokes… He wasn't sure what to make of them, but they were sort of funny, in a sad sort of way. How were they able to be so happy in this dreary world with the eternity of crushing darkness pressing in on them at all times? Speaking of how things worked down here, how was there even snow down here if they were under a mountain? And working lights? He didn't want to seem ignorant, though, so he filed it away as another thing to ask Sans later, when he caught the short skeleton alone.

They passed a medium-sized igloo building, with a dark interior. "THAT'S THE TOWN'S SECRET UNDERGROUND PASSAGE! YOU ARE WELCOME TO EXPLORE IT ONE DAY, BUT NOT TODAY! NYEH-HEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus laughed heartily. "EXPLORING IT TODAY WOULD DEFEAT MUCH OF THE PURPOSE OF OUR TOUR THROUGH TOWN!"

Past the igloo, Harry saw the beginnings of the actual town, meaning houses, and people –or rather, monsters. He shrank back a little, his teeth clenching down involuntarily. A skeletal hand rested on his shoulder, and he jumped, looking at the owner –Sans- wildly. Sans looked at him calmly, his eyelights meeting his own emerald orbs with a strange confidence.

"you've got this, kid. c'mon, you can do this" Sans said seriously.

Harry took a shaky breath, closing his eyes. He was a Gryffindor, why was this scaring him so damn much?! Then again, the loss of Sirius had been a major blow to his confidence. The cockiness that had bolstered him for so long was gone, bringing back the scared little child he had been before meeting Ron, and even Hermione. Now neither of them were here and he had to learn how to be confident without them, and all he had was this… strangely laid-back, punning skeleton at his side.

"NYEH? YOUNG HARRY?! SANS?! WHY ARE YOU STOPPED BACK THERE?! WHAT IS THE MATTER? WHY IS YOUNG HARRY SHAKING LIKE THAT? DID YOU TELL ANOTHER PUN SANS?!" Papyrus stalked through the snow back towards them, his hands on his hips.

Harry looked up at Papyrus, unsure what to say to the large skeleton. His wings rustled behind him nervously, as if they wanted to spread out and take flight, away from this uncomfortable situation he found himself in.

"heh, would i do that, Paps?" Sans responded in his usual casual tone of voice, smiling quirkily up at his brother.

Papyrus' eye twitched. "YES YOU WOULD, BROTHER, AND YOU KNOW IT!"

Sans shrugged. "cant argue with that i suppose, but i didnt tell a pun. Harry here just has a hard time around monsters he doesnt know, bro. especially large crowds of them. so, you think you could go a bit easy on 'im?"

Harry's eyes darted towards Sans, surprised the shorter skeleton could read him so well. Or was the skeleton just making sure that fewer monsters would see the human features in him?

Sans met his eyes calmly, leaving no sign to what the skeleton was thinking in the white eyelights reflected back at Harry. Harry sighed, resigning himself to never knowing what exactly was going on inside the other monster's head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hmmm. What could Sans possibly be thinking now? Guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow! Awww, I know, such a LONG time to wait! *rolls eyes* At least it isn't a week like it is usually, guys! Haha! Well, off to do some more writing! Unless I get distracted by Subnautica, that game has been taking up a lot of my time lately too. Man that game is cool!


	8. A 'Pap'-Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I do want to note about Sans' attitude. You may be wondering how Sans has so much Determination and will-power to succeed and be there for his brother and Harry and monsters in general, when, in the games, he seems to have just given up. But remember, in the games, he has likely seen MILLIONS upon BILLIONS of resets at this point. How many people have played Undertale? And how many of those people played the game to find EVERY SINGLE ENDING? And then kept playing the game over and over again to find every single secret possible, messing with the code and shizz? I believe THAT is the Sans we meet in the game Undertale. The one that has gone through all those resets, and can't stop US, the player, from making him go through all of that, over and over. Sure, we can make one single version of him have a happy ending, but the rest of the versions of him keep having those bad endings, and he knows he can't stop it, and he can't stop us from having the power to just rip him from that good ending one day just because we feel like it. And the worst part is, sometimes he wouldn't even know about the good ending. But the Sans in this story hasn't reached that point yet. He's only gone through 238 resets, not millions of billions of them. He hasn't lost ALL hope yet, regardless of what his HoPe stat is. Wow. Long author's note, but it had to be said, because it wasn't really being explained well in the story.

Sans was going to have a serious migraine by the end of the week, he was sure of it. No, by the end of the day. This hybrid situation had  _not_  occurred in the other resets, he was absolutely positive of it. He had slipped away with a short cut earlier in the tour when Papyrus was going on about the Snowdin traditions, and checked to be sure, and not one of the notes mentioned  _anything_  about Harry, and he  _would have_  mentioned it. He _had_ indeed left a message about it before leaving to rejoin the tour before he was missed. Now the kid was freaking about meeting other monsters and Sans couldn't even blame the guy. He'd be nervous in the other's shoes, too. But he couldn't let his own anxiety show. The kid didn't need to see his own fears about the situation –he needed someone who had his back.

He met the kid's frightened emerald eyes calmly –such brilliant emerald, he had never seen such a green before! He tried to convey a sense of confidence to the kid, but wasn't sure he managed much more than apathy. It was hard, after knowing what he did about the future, to summon up confidence that things would turn out alright for the future of humans and monsters. But he had to try for this kid. He wasn't prepared for Papyrus to jump in on the conversation with one of his 'Pap' talks.

"NYEH! LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE NEEDS A 'PAP' TALK! YOUNG HARRY! I AM A VERY AWESOME AND COOL MONSTER, AS EVERYONE KNOWS! THEREFORE! SINCE YOU ARE AFRAID OF OTHERS NOT LIKING YOU AS MUCH AS THEY LIKE ME, I SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND, SO THAT OTHERS MAY SEE THAT YOU ARE COOL LIKE ME! AND THEY! SHALL ALSO! BE YOUR FRIEND! NYEH HEHEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus stood proudly, and Sans could almost see the scarf that would be swaying in the wind like a cape if he had it on –but he hadn't given it to him yet.

The sudden feeling of déjà vu swept over Sans and damn near knocked him over, but he closed his eyes and weathered his way through the feeling, gritting his teeth through it, his permanent smile growing strained.

"Sans, are you ok?" The question came from the kid, and Sans cursed himself from letting his mask slip, even for a second.

"yeah, i'm alright, kid. i just had déjà vu for a moment" he responded, trying to remain calm.

"One hell of a déjà vu," Harry replied warily, eyeing him strangely. Sans' eyes darted back to the kid's, wondering what exactly the kid had seen in his face.

"EH? SANS, IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG?!" Papyrus interrupted their conversation again, swooping Sans into a bone-crushing hug. "YOU KNOW YOU MUST ALWAYS TELL ME WHEN YOU ARE FEELING DOWN, BROTHER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS CANNOT HAVE HIS BROTHER FEELING NOT-SO-GREAT!"

Sans wheezed, patting Papyrus on the back warningly. "h-heh… Paps, i'm fine. you're squeezing a bit too hard though"

"OH MY GOSH! I AM VERY SORRY, SANS! I DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT YOU, BROTHER!"

"heh. no harm done, bro" Sans shrugged as he was set down, subtly puffing out his jacket a little more as he did so, the outer layer of protection having done him much good over the years.

He glanced again at the hybrid, noticing for the first time the layer of freezing gunk over the skeletal, feathered wings jutting from Harry's back. Sans sucked in a surprised gasped of horrified concern. "hey, kid… what's up with your wings? that looks painful, are you ok?"

The kid looked startled, before getting defensive. "I'm fine!" he protested, his wings folding in on themselves, the gunk crinkling and shattering, a fresh mixture of deep, maroon red liquid and white dust splattering from several wounds. Harry's lips twitched, and the corners of his eyes tightened, but he showed no other signs of the pain he surely must have been feeling. He was used to hiding pain.

A chill went down Sans' spine. This kid had had a rough life, he was sure of it. He exchanged a significant glance with Papyrus, who had gone silent for once, reading between the lines as well as Sans had. Despite his rather exuberant ways, his brother wasn't stupid –far from it. Sans clenched his right hand, hidden in his pocket, feeling the metal plate straining against the bones there. He knew his eyelights had gone dark.

Harry was trembling now, eyeing him fearfully. "I-I'm f-fine… r-really, I am! I'm –I'm not hurt! I'm not!" He insisted, his voice squeaking.

"YOUNG HARRY! YOU MUSTN'T BE AFRAID OF SANS AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NO, WE ONLY FEAR FOR YOUR COMFORT AND SAFETY! WE WANT TO MAKE YOU BETTER! WE MUST HEAL YOU IF YOU ARE IN PAIN! HERE, LET ME HEAL YOU, YOUNG HARRY!" Papyrus insisted, stepping forward, reaching forward with his mitten-clad hands to cup Harry's Soul as he began to summon it.

Sans snapped out of his rage at that, stepping in between them. "heh. Paps, why, uh, why don't i heal him and you go get some, uh, blankets from the house?"

Papyrus blinked at him. "DON'T BE SILLY, SANS! YOU KNOW I'M THE BETTER HEALER! HEALING TAKES SO MUCH OUT OF YOU, I'M SURPRISED YOU EVEN OFFERED, BROTHER! WHAT IF YOUNG HARRY IS SERIOUSLY INJURED? YOU COULD RUN OUT OF MAGIC! NO, I'LL DO IT, SANS!" Papyrus insisted.

Sans couldn't see a way out of this. Others were going to find out eventually, but Papyrus wasn't exactly good at keeping secrets… He sighed. "…alright Paps, but you gotta understand something first, ok?"

Papyrus looked down at him, seeing how serious he was acting, and nodded. "I'M LISTENING, SANS."

So Sans explained that Harry was a hybrid; how Sans had found him in the woods and how Harry wasn't sure how he had gotten to the Underground. How they weren't sure his Soul would interact with the Barrier, but that Sans needed to talk to Asgore before any other monsters freaked out and attacked Harry without fully understanding his true nature.

"of course, most monsters will just assume Harry is just a monster that looks a little like a human, if they even know what humans look like. at least, until they see his Soul" Sans said, sighing. "so i guess just take him to our house and keep him there until i talk to Asgore, alright, Paps?"

"DONE AND DONE, BROTHER!" Papyrus announced, leaning over Harry, his eyes glowing with bright orange flames and the two of them surrounded in fading green flames of healing magic. Harry was sagged in Papyrus' arms, the healing taking a toll on the young hybrid human.

Sans gave a small smile at seeing the healthy red in the hybrid's cheeks. He would do his best to convince Asgore to spare Harry’s life, no matter what happened with the barrier tests. He was the Judge, after all. His word carried a lot of weight to the King. Maybe he could change the fate of  _this_  young human-turned-hybrid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Yes, I have alluded to it here and in the previous few chapters or so: Handplates AU. If you don't know what that is, the basic story elements will eventually be revealed in future chapters so I won't spoil the plot, but for those who are aware of the Handplates AU, do know that I won't be following the storyline of Handplates exactly, just the general idea of the story. It won't be a super important plot point but it is alluded to in the following chapters fairly frequently as Harry's own abuse is uncovered.


	9. Sleepy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys! Sorry this is later in the day than you're used to, I almost forgot today was Friday! Gah, I've been just OBSESSING over handplates!AU over the past week and a half so much! I've even started a new fic. Don't worry, I'm still focusing on this fic, though!

Papyrus wasn't as scientifically-minded as his brother, he knew that, from way back when they were baby bones, trapped in –no, this wasn't the time to think of that. But he knew that his brother was very smart. He was smart, too, but in other ways. His puzzle-making skills were top-notch, and his friendly-ness score was almost ten-thousand! But science did confuse him a little, and the bundle of human and monster melded together in his large, bony arms didn't make sense to him at all.

But Papyrus was confident in his brother, and trusted him to make the right decision, and so strode through the snow toward their home confidently. As he walked through the snow-bound town, the friendly monsters of Snowdin stopped him to wave and say hello.

Snowdrake flapped his way toward Papyrus, and the tall skeleton couldn't help but groan a little, regretting the pun coming his way. "Ice to meet you!" the ice bird chirped at him. "Who ya got there, Papyrus?"

"GOOD DAY, SNOWDRAKE! GREAT PUNS AS ALWAYS! DON'T TELL MY BROTHER THOUGH, HE DOESN'T NEED ENCOURAGING!"

Papyrus looked down at Snowdrake sternly for a moment, knowing that the two of them often had pun wars with each other, trying to out-pun the other. The young monster only looked smug for a moment before gesturing at Harry again. "THIS IS YOUNG HARRY, AN INJURED MONSTER MY BROTHER FOUND IN THE FOREST. I AM BRINGING HIM TO OUR HOUSE UNTIL WE CAN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT WHERE HE CAME FROM AND WHERE HIS FAMILY IS," Papyrus explained, giving Snowdrake the explanation Sans had told him to use in case other monsters saw Harry out and about.

"Aww. Tell the little 'un to get better," Snowdrake said sympathetically.

"THANKS, SNOWDRAKE!" Papyrus said cheerfully.

"'Snow' problem!" Snowdrake chirped back cheerfully. Papyrus groaned.

"I WALKED RIGHT INTO THAT ONE, DIDN'T I?! YOU'RE WORSE THAN SANS… WAIT. NO. NO ONE'S WORSE THAN SANS!"

Snowdrake laughed and waved. "Nice talking to ya, Papyrus, hope the little guy gets better soon, and you find his family!"

"THANKS, SNOWDRAKE!" Papyrus called to Snowdrake's back as the monster walked into the forest for the day.

As Papyrus continued further into the town, he had similar conversations, repeating the information as he had with Snowdrake, as he met Dogamy and Dogaressa, Greater and Lesser Dog, Monster Kid, with his sister, Monster Teen and his parents, Monster Dan and Monster Mandy.

Finally he made it in front of Sans' and his house. He looked down at Harry, somehow still asleep, even after all the conversations he had with all the monsters. He knew he wasn't exactly the quietist monster around, after all. Harry must have been exhausted, to be sleeping after all this time and all this noise. At least his injuries had been healed; Papyrus had seen to that. Though, with a base HoPe of 5… there was little he could do at this point beyond make sure that the hybrid wasn't uncomfortable and try to raise the kid's spirits.

He wasn't sure how humans worked, but he knew that for monsters, HoPe was a mixture of baseline ability and will. There was the HoPe one was born with the ability to create to a certain point, which could be damaged beyond repair with certain –terrible, horrible experiments that were –not to be thought about… And there was the HoPe that was generated by one's will to live. One could not simply will one's own life away, of course, but one could will one's own HoPe away so much that one hit of a magic attack would take away one's life.

It didn't seem that young Harry had quite whittled down his HoPe that far…  _yet_. And Papyrus didn't intend to let him go any further. Quite the opposite, in fact. He intended to do everything in his power to raise Harry up, make him see that he could live, that he  _should_  live. He had heard a lot about humans, true, but he knew in every inch of his Soul that this damaged hybrid was nothing like those stories.

He had  _SEEN_  Harry's Soul, and even though he was not the Judge like Sans, he knew that Harry had never committed an intentional act of violence in his life. This child was an innocent, and Papyrus would stand in the way of anyone who tried to hurt him, even… even Asgore, his king. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Asgore had been killing the previous humans who had been coming through the Underground.

None had come through in a long, long time. Since… since before Sans and Papyrus were…  _born_. Papyrus wouldn't have let Asgore  kill  a human. He couldn't have let it happen. He would have hid a child, would have done  _something_  to try to SAVE the child, prevent the useless killing of an innocent. It was in his nature. He couldn't have just stood by and let Asgore take their Soul. Neither would Sans, of course. That was why he was the Judge. He would have turned them back if they had a pure Soul.

But this child. He wasn't even fully human. He was part monster. Maybe he was the answer to their problem! He could maybe go through the barrier and explain to humans –but no! It was humans who had done this to him! Had hurt him, had caused him to lose such HoPe and torn him up and sent him here! No, it was better that he stay here, where he could be loved and cared for.

Papyrus and Sans could care for him, he could be their new brother! Papyrus looked down at the sleeping Harry, laid on the couch, wings folded peacefully beneath him, a warm blanket draped over him, and the tall skeleton sighed, sitting on the ground next to the couch. He didn't even notice the way the gunk on the child's wings were getting all over the couch and drying further into clumps, making for a worse mess later on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Dun-dun-dunnnn! Yep, guys and girls, the King has arrived! Uh-oh, what will Harry do now that he has landed himself in very hot water?!
> 
> As always, remember to comment down in the comment section below! If you enjoy the story enough, feel free to favorite or subscribe to the story for updates for when I upload new chapters!


	10. A New Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I have an important announcement this week! Ancient Magickes officially has a Beta-Reader!!! Their name is LucariaAura, from Fanfiction.net, and they will be helping me out by reading chapters ahead of time for spelling/grammar mistakes and also to help me better myself as a writer! Give them a round of applause, everyone!!! I'd like to take this time to thank them very much for their help and dedication to improving my skills as a writer, as I couldn't do this without them, and I couldn't do this without you all as my fans. So thank you, LucariaAura, and thank you, my loyal readers!

_“NOW WAIT JUST A MOMENT! HE’S SLEEPING! YOU CAN’T JUST BARGE IN HERE LIKE THIS!”_

Harry sniffed as a voice drifted through his sleep-fogged brain, registering as vaguely familiar. It reminded him of someone who was loud and cheerful. Another voice responded. This one was deep and rumbling, unfamiliar. It didn’t really remind him of anyone he’d ever known before, but it unsettled him for some reason. It had a hint of danger in it.

_“ **I will do what I must do to protect my people**. You have to understand this, Sans, as my Judge. Dear Papyrus, step aside. I do not want you getting hurt. This creature could be quite dangerous.”_

_Dangerous? What’s dangerous?_ He thought to himself, his eyes blinking open. Everything was foggy for a second. There was a tall, skeletal figure hovering in front of him, and a larger, shadowy form in front of that. Harry yelped, scrambling back, his eyes snapping wildly around the room as he tried to process what was going on. He was unaware of the drying lumps of his feathers tearing, but he would regret it later when several primaries and secondaries tore away in large clumps from the couch with a mixture of membrane, blood, dust, and snow. For now, all of his attention was focused on the scene unfolding in front of his eyes.

His view of the room slowly processed in little snapshots of moments. He was in a large living room, pressed against the back of an old couch, a dented tv across from him. Papyrus stood in front of him, Sans leaning against the wall in front of the door, eyes dark as pitch and a huge goat monster with golden armor and a monstrous purple cloak towering over them all staring at him seriously, a sorrowful look in his brown, deadened eyes.

“W-what… what’s going on h-e… her-re?” He stumbled over the words, squeaking them out. He tried to swallow, but couldn’t, the lump in his throat too big to get over.

“If we can all calm down here, I’d like to explain that I’m not here to hurt anyone, please.” The goat monster rumbled deeply.

“uh-huh. unless you decide the kid’s a threat” Sans interrupted from the wall. Harry eyed Sans uncertainly, still pressed against the back of the couch stiffly. If Sans didn’t trust this guy, _he_ certainly wasn’t going to trust him.

The goat monster sighed. “Sans, if I go put my armor and weapons in the shed, will you believe me then?”

Sans snorted. “You don’t need your trident to kill ‘im, but sure, sure, do whatever you want, King Fluffybuns” He pushed himself off of the wall, using his momentum to throw himself on the couch next to Harry, eyeing the lumps of torn feathers but saying nothing about them. “’s alrigh’ kid, you c’n relax a li’l” He threw his head back on the couch cushion and then proceeded to either fall right asleep or pretend to snore; it was hard for Harry to tell which.

“SAAAAAAAAAAANS!” Papyrus shouted, stamping his foot. Harry stared disbelievingly, relaxing a little in spite of himself in sheer disbelief as the goat monster –‘King Fluffybuns?’ left the house. “HONESTLY, I DON’T KNOW HOW HE DOES THAT. HE FALLS ASLEEP ON COMMAND, HARRY. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!”

“Wow. I wouldn’t believe it, except my friend Ron does the same thing when he goes to bed. Just goes right to sleep and snores up a storm,” Harry commented after clearing his throat. He was still shocked over the whole experience; a part of him felt like he was still dreaming. “Though it’s interesting that skeletons snore because I don’t think you guys have tonsils or lymph nodes or whatever it is that humans have that causes snoring…”

Papyrus looked at Harry strangely. “WHAT IS A TONSIL? OR A LIMP MODE? ARE YOU LIMPING?! OH NO DID I NOT HEAL YOU PROPERLY?!”

“What?! Oh no, those are like muscles that we have in our throats and on different parts of our bodies that regulate our hormones and stuff, we learn it in school and stuff,” Harry explained. “Sorry, I don’t know a whole lot about it, my friend Hermione could tell you more about it, if I ever get out of here to talk to her again, I guess…” He looked down at his skeletal hands. “If she’d even recognize me.”

“HEY, IT WILL BE OK. KING ASGORE WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE EVERYTHING WORK OUT, YOU’LL SEE. EVERYTHING WILL BE OK. AND YOUR FRIEND WILL RECOGNIZE YOU, I’M SURE OF IT! IF NOT BY YOUR FACE, BY YOUR SOUL!”

“Heh, thanks, Papyrus. You and Sans have been so nice to me, but you don’t even know me… I guess I don’t understand why.”

“BECAUSE WE SEE THE GOOD IN YOU AND WE WANT TO PROTECT THAT GOOD, YOUNG HARRY!”

“An admirable trait, my dear Papyrus,” rumbled the deep voice of the goat monster. Harry tensed up as the door swung shut behind the monster. The monster was now smaller than before, the armor the monster had been wearing apparently taking up most of his bulk. He was still wearing his purple cloak, now wrapped around him, hiding much of his body, but his large hands were visible now from his sleeves, huge fluffy five-fingered hands that ended in rounded, filed claws. They were clearly not meant to hurt anyone, and Harry felt shame for being so fearful of the monster before.

His eyes traveled up to the monster’s face and was surprised by the kindness and sorrow there. His face was entirely furry, his lower half covered by a golden beard and mustache that reached up into sideburns along white, almost rabbit-like ears. Two tall goat horns stood proudly atop his head, along with a modest crown that sat behind two strands of golden hair that fell around his white upper facial hair. His deep brown eyes held a great sorrow of pain and despair that Harry knew from the experience of great loss; the same kind of loss he had experienced with Sirius.

Harry couldn’t help himself but to throw his arms around the monster and hold him. The monster was surprised; Harry felt him stiffen under his initial ‘assault’ but then as Harry began to cry in grief, the king slumped too, hugging the child back, and Harry’s Soul lit up in an instinctual surge of Empathy magic. The bright green of Kindness swirled around the monster and the hybrid. Flashes of memories begin to go by.

_A flash of sickly green light and the screams of ‘ **Not Harry! Take me instead! Not Harry!’** And a high pitched laughter that sends chills down your back._

_Then a small human child with rosy red cheeks looking up at you and calling you ‘Mister Dad Guy’ while presenting you with a cute drawing of you and your family, complete with your wife and other child, heart wrenching in your chest as you remember they are all gone._

_A flash of light as you are shoved into a tiny closet, your back bleeding from the belt as your stomach cries out with hunger, tears streaming down your cheeks._

_Pains in your stomach after eating a pie your children made you with actual buttercups in it on accident. Explaining to them that buttercups are very poisonous but no harm done, you are very strong._

**_MAGIC DOESN’T EXIST!_ ** _The thought is beaten into you over and over until you believe it. **DON’T ASK QUESTIONS!** Nothing about your parents. They died in a car crash after going out drunk. You’re worthless, a piece of trash, a **freak,** a **monster**._

_Your human child is sick, and they’re not getting better. You don’t know what to do. They’re dying, and the doctors don’t know what’s wrong. They can’t heal them!_

_You go to school and you’ve got a name. You’re Harry Potter. What’s love? What’s kindness? What’s sharing? **FREAKS, MONSTERS** don’t deserve those things._

_Chara is dead. And so is Asriel. It’s the humans’ fault. All the humans’ fault. You’re angry and it’s all their fault. In your anger and despair, you declare war on the humans just to be seen as doing something. It works, it brings back the HoPe into the monsters’ lives._

_If you do better at school than Dudley, you’re punished, so you stop trying. What’s the point? **FREAKS don’t get good things**._

_The first human falls, and it’s a child. Your resolve quavers, and your wife begs you stop, but then they kill a froggit out of fear and you snap, killing them out of frustration. Your wife looks at you in disgust and you yell at her to leave then, if she doesn’t like it. She does, shutting the Ruins doors for good. You feel awful._

_You learn you’re a wizard and all you can think is that they knew all along and treated you horrible for it, just because you were different._

_It’s a long time between the next child falling, and you beg your wife for forgiveness many times, but she never answers you, despite many, many attempts at forgiveness._

_You are uncomfortable with your newfound fame and the schmoozing up to you that people do to try to worm their way into your good graces. And you really, really dislike Malfoy. He’s a world-class jerk._

The images started coming faster, getting smaller.

_More children, more blood and deaths. The weight of their deaths and their Souls upon your back like an iron weight. The Soul containment units are tied to your very Soul, so you are indeed toting them around with you everywhere you go._

_A stone, a chamber, giant snake, a prisoner, a goblet, dragon, lake, maze, and Lord Voldemort rising again. Flashes of the race through the Department of Mysteries. …Sirius’ death. The pain ripped through you once more; it’s like your heart is being ripped out of your chest. You can’t breathe, your whole life is gone in that moment. You hate her, the one who took him from you and you want her dead, just like he wanted the humans dead who took his children away from him. You…_

_You two understood each other, in a way that no one else could, in that moment_.

The light died, and the magic faded.

Sans was watching them warily, having woken up from the light show, or not having been sleeping at all, it was hard to tell. Papyrus was beaming. “ARE YOU TWO FRIENDS NOW?!” he asked excitedly.

King Asgore laughed in a sort of sob, wiping at the tears leaking from his eyes. “In a sense, dear Papyrus. Young Harry here is welcome to stay in our kingdom as long as he likes. I will be making an announcement in the coming days. There will also be no more of the unkind business of the killing of human children. The children will get proper burials and the Souls will be released. It is unkind to keep them as they are, suspended, unable to move on to their afterlife. Harry has made this very clear to me. He may have to help them move on to their afterlife, in fact.”

“I’ll have to observe the process,” Harry nodded, feeling clearer than he had in a long while. He wiped at his own eyes. The process of seeing King Asgore’s own memories had taken a toll on him as well. It was interesting, though. He looked up at Asgore. “Thank you for sharing with me those memories, sir,” he said respectfully, not knowing that he had started the process.

King Asgore blinked down at the young hybrid before chuckling. “And you as well, young one. And I meant what I said. You are welcome in my kingdom as long as you want, wherever that kingdom may be, here or Above.”

Tears welled in the corners of Harry’s eyes again. “Thank you, sir.”

“Call me Asgore, Harry. You’ve surely earned the right to call me that. Or…” He paused, hesitant, swallowing thickly. “If you want… but. No… You. You wouldn’t want that, you barely know me.”

Harry blinked, confused. “I… I’m sorry, sir, what do you mean?” He questioned. King Asgore looked away, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

“Well I guess what I mean to say is that we… we’ve both been without a family for a long time, I guess.” He looked down at Harry kindly. “I’d be more than happy to call you my son, young one.”

“AWWW, WE CAN’T BE BROTHERS?” Papyrus cried out, looking down-hearted.

Asgore looked taken aback by this comment. “You can of course be his honorary brothers, Papyrus. He could of course live here in Snowdin. I’d hate to see you up in that drafty old castle anyway, Harry, as I seem to recall you dislike fame and a lot attention, as you’d get as a reigning Prince. You could simply be an adopted child, as Chara was, if you’d like. ‘Prince’ is just a title in that case.” He patted Harry lightly on the shoulder.

Harry smiled up tearfully at Asgore. “I… I think I’d like that very much,” he said, voice tight with held back tears, going in for another hug of the large goat king. The king showed no hesitation this time, hugging the small hybrid.

“Oh, my young, new son. I’m so sorry for all that life has brought upon you.” Asgore rumbled.

“’s not your fault… new Dad.” Harry mumbled, looking up at his new goat-dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: I would also like to note that I WILL be taking a brief ONE-WEEK HAITUS so that LucariaAura can catch up to where I am in the story currently! They came into the story rather late, after all, so they have to have some time to catch up to where I am, as I have several chapters already written beyond what is currently written. But after this haitus, we should be good to go on this story's front!


	11. Interlude: Asgore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, my beta reader had the flu and then her roommate had the flu so forgive us for taking so long on this! Enjoy this short Interlude as we play catch-up with the next chapters!

Asgore didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had a son once more! He strode through the snow, his large strides crunching through the snow with more determination than he'd had in months, maybe years. He felt a light in his Soul, a HoPe much stronger than he'd had in a century.

"What has you so happy today, King Fluffybuns?" a nasty, nasally voice called out. Startled, but groaning internally –he was never going to live _that_ nickname down- Asgore looked around for the source of the voice.

A small yellow flower popped up in front of him a few feet away. Asgore blinked at it before a vague memory floated through his mind, and he cleared his throat. "Ah… Flowey, was it? I was just having a pleasant stroll through Snowdin."

The flower's eyes narrowed. "Hmmm… I see," he said. "It couldn't have been anything… _else_ , I guess. Nothing special that would be a super-special occasion or anything, would it?"

Asgore raised an eyebrow. Could the flower have been spying on them? "Now see here, young one. If there _was_ to be a special occasion, it would be kept a secret on purpose, so as to keep the secret a happy surprise until a proper celebration can be held," he warned the flower.

The flower smiled, though it was a strained smile; it almost didn't seem… natural. A shiver of unease went down Asgore's back. "I understand, your Majesty. I'll just… be going then." With those words, the flower popped back down into the earth and was gone, but not without another strange smile, this one more sadistic, an uneasy smile that Asgore had never seen on the face of a monster before, but one he had seen on one other face before; the face of one child he hadn't regretted killing. At least, not until Harry had shown up.

 _That_ child hadn't hesitated in killing most of the monsters they came across in the Underground, and by the time Asgore had tracked them down, they had a LoVe of 4, almost 5. That one had felt _Justified_ in killing the monsters they came across, and accused _him_ of starting the war in the first place. Asgore hadn't hesitated in attacking with all his might. But when it became clear that the child wasn't strong enough to beat him, the human had tried running from him. That was when Asgore had started destroying the Mercy menu.

Not only did _he_ not deserve mercy, but _they_ did not deserve to run from what they had started. He closed his eyes, sighing. But that was all behind him. There was a new hope, now, in his new son. Harry would bring new light and life to the Underground, Asgore was sure of it. He remembered when Asriel was born, and when he and Toriel had announced the adoption of Chara. The people had been over-joyed. There had been celebration after celebration… those had truly been the days of hope and light in the Underground. If Harry could bring even a fraction of that HoPe back to his people, giving the Souls up would be worth it.

But he had forgotten about the little flower, caught up once again in his own memories. He looked around himself. It wasn't good, that one of his own had lost so much HoPe that they had … such feelings within themselves. "Flowey!" he called, _but nobody came_.

Asgore's mouth twisted into a sorrowful grimace. "Oh, my son… I hope that you can do that which I cannot…" he whispered, looking down into his hands.

Harry would fix this land, would bring HoPe back to his people. Would lead them out of the Underground. Asgore was sure of it. How could he not? He was pure, full of light and life, and had the same fire within his Soul as Toriel did within hers. The fire to do what was right no matter the cost to themselves; the fire to win the war that he could not, with his smoldering ember.

Meanwhile, a tiny flower looked on in confusion and frustration, unknowing of the thoughts running through the king's head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Uh-oh! What does Flowey have planned? Only time will tell... Thanks to everyone for sticking with me through this process! It amazes me every day to see my inbox filled with favorites and follows and sometimes, even reviews! You guys make my days brighter! I appreciate each and every one of you and I want to thank you all for reading my story. Thank you. I hope I continue to make your day brighter by writing a great tale to read!


	12. Sweater

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey guys! Welcome back to another week of this story, where we come back to Harry's story! I hope everyone enjoys this week's installment of the story! We'll see if me and my beta can keep up with the weekly schedule, I'm hoping so! So, without further ado, here's the story!

Sans couldn't help but chuckle at the stunned look on the kid's face left in Asgore's wake. "heh. not what you were expecting, huh, kid?" he yawned, throwing his feet on the coffee table. Admittingly, it hadn't been what he was expecting either, but he'd learned to roll with things long ago.

Papyrus grinned happily. "THIS IS CAUSE FOR A SPECIAL RECIPE! I WILL GO LOOK FOR A VERY SPECIAL ONE! NYEH-HEHEHEH!" He raced to the kitchen.

"You could say that," the kid replied to Sans, shuffling his feet, his wings rustling erratically with the movement, a few feathers floating down around him. Anxiety, still. The kid just couldn't get rid of it. Not that Sans could blame him. It couldn't be easy, thrown into a new world, new body, new family, all in the span of a few hours. And the kid _still_ didn't have a shirt on. Damn it.

Sans stood, shrugging off his jacket reluctantly; holding it out to Harry. "here, kid. put this on; you've gotta be freezin"

The kid blinked. "Uh… sure? Surprisingly, I've not really felt too cold, but, uh, thanks?" Sans winked, and in a flash, the jacket was back on his body. "well, in that case…"

Harry was stunned. "uhhh…"

Sans laughed at his reaction. "im kiddin' with ya, bud. i just forgot that i havent washed this jacket in probs a few months. you dont wanna wear it, trust me. hey, Paps? you got somethin' from yer baby bones days lyin' around that Harry can wear?"

Papyrus peeked his head out from the kitchen. "PERHAPS MY OLD RED SWEATER WILL DO, SANS?"

Sans thought for a moment. "might work" He glanced over at the kid for a moment, analyzing the kid's body shape. "he's a bit small for it, but shoulder-height-wise… but wait… his wings… Paps, we'll have to cut holes into it for his wings to get out. you alright with that?"

"BUT OF COURSE, SANS! HE IS OUR NEW BROTHER, AND AS HIS OLDER BROTHERS, WE WILL DO WHAT WE MUST TO MAKE HIM FEEL WELCOMED IN THE FAMILY, INCLUDING MAKING HIM WARM AND GIVING HIM CLOTHES!" Papyrus sounded scandalized.

"right, but Papy, that's your favorite sweater, i'm sure we can find something else he can wear" Sans said sympathetically.

Papyrus peeked back out of the kitchen and gave Sans a pointed look. "SANS. I AM NOT A BABYBONES ANYMORE. I CAN'T EVEN WEAR THE SWEATER ANYMORE. I WILL BE PLEASED TO SEE HARRY BEING ABLE TO WEAR MY ONCE FAVORED RED SWEATER ONCE MORE!"

Sans shrugged. "alright, alright. i'll go get it…" And if he pretended not to hear the "NYOOH-HOO-HOO'S" from the kitchen, well, that was his prerogative. He rummaged through Papyrus' closet until he found the box of old sweaters, drawing out the old red one, a fond smile on his face as he remembered all the old memories… the good ones that had replaced the bad… he jerked and almost slammed his head into the back of the door jam.

He _seriously_ needed to stop thinking about that. He couldn't change those times and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing but move on and not _think_ about it. But he _kept thinking about it_! Sans sighed and backed out of the closet, clutching the sweater beneath his phalanges, careful not to rip the slightly faded material.

He brought the sweater down the stairs, slipping behind the stairs and into the laundry room, grabbing a pair of scissors from their basket of sewing supplies –Papyrus occasionally liked to attempt knitting for some reason- and proceeded to bring the supplies into the living room.

"alright kid, lets get this sweater on you first, then I'll cut the sweater along your wings to the exact size we need rather than guessing…" Sans said.

"OK," Harry replied, pulling the sweater on over his head, then immediately getting it caught on his wings as he tried pulling it down over his shoulders. " _Shit!_ " He cursed from within the pile of red fabric. Sans rolled his eyes and Papyrus shrieked.

"LANGUAGE, YOUNG HARRY!"

"English!" Harry shot back, causing Sans to chuckle, and Papyrus to emerge from the kitchen, stomping his foot in frustration.

"WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON IN HERE?!"

"the kid's stuck" Sans said, laughing.

"AND YOU'RE NOT HELPING, SANS?! UGH, MUST I BE THE HELPFUL OLDER BROTHER, SANS?"

"one of us has to be the fun brother, Paps"

"I AM TWICE AS FUN AS YOU, BROTHER. ALL YOU DO IS LAZE AROUND ALL DAY AND TELL PUNS!"

"Uh, guys?" That was from Harry, still struggling under the sweater.

"i've not told a pun in at least two hours, bro"

"WHICH IS QUITE THE FEAT FOR YOU, I MUST ADMIT BROTHER. MY THREAT MUST HAVE WORKED! I MUST WORK OUT THAT DEAL WITH GRILLBY MORE OFTEN…"

"…Guys?!" Harry was getting more frantic and claustrophobic, sounding choked and frightened. Something flickered in the back of Sans' mind, but he continued with his conversation.

"not necessary, i assure you…"

"TODAY ONLY PROVES THAT STATEMENT FALSE!"

"GUYS!" Harry shouted. Whoops. He'd forgotten the kid, and now the kid was fed up with him. At least he'd managed to say something about it instead of staying quiet like he had before.

"…"

"shit, kid, i'm sorry." Blue magic lit up in Sans' right eye and in a second, the sweater was properly seated over Harry's body, his wings folded beneath the sweater, stretching against the constraining fabric.

"I'M SORRY, TOO." Papyrus apologized to Harry, as Sans brought over the scissors and delicately cut open a slit for Harry's wings to emerge. He noticed the way Harry automatically flinched at the sight of the metal shine against the light. His permanent smile strained and his eyes tightened when he noticed _that_ particular quirk. The same quirk he and Papyrus had.

It didn't necessarily mean the same thing but damn it, it _could_ and Sans couldn't imagine sweet Harry at the hands of a cruel monster like… like **_him_**. He exchanged a glance with Papyrus before removing the scissors from sight and flopping on the couch with a sigh. "welp. i think i've done enough work for the day… a _skele-ton_ "

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS!" Papyrus shrieked immediately, but it broke the tension in the air, causing Harry to laugh, so it was worth it to the shorter skeleton. "THAT'S IT! I'M TELLING GRILLBY THAT KETCHUP'S OFFICIALLY OFF-MENU!" Or maybe not.

Then again… "if you do that, Paps, the puns'll _never_ stop" Sans threatened.

Papyrus froze mid-step, teetering in the air as he contemplated the horror of never-ending puns from Sans. "N-NICE TRY, SANS, B-BUT YOU ALREADY PUN NON-STOP!" He tried weakly.

Sans yawned. "i've not really bin trying that hard _tibia_ completely honest with ya, Paps"

"DON'T START, SANS!" Papyrus screeched.

"don't start _skull-king_ , Paps. im putting my _cranium_ to use" Sans winked. Harry's hands rose to his mouth, snickering at the stomping Papyrus.

"am i _thoracicbating_ you, Paps? i guess nothing is _sacrum'd_ around me; im really pulling out all the _stapes_ this time"

"SAAAAAAAAAAAANS! ENOUGH! ENOUGH, I'VE HEARD ENOUGH OF YOUR ATROCIOUS PUNS! I WON'T GO TO GRILLBY'S; JUST STOP WITH THE PUNS!" Papyrus shouted, pleading with his brother.

"you sure, bro? im sure i can _scalp_ up a few more puns; don't make me _tarse_ my words!" Sans grinned, enjoying the way his brother's eye twitched.

"NYOOOH-HOO-HOOO! WHY MUST MY BROTHER TORMENT ME WITH HIS PUNS?! BROTHER HARRY, CERTAINLY YOU SEE THE HORRORS THAT SANS PUTS ME THROUGH AND AGREE WITH YOUR GREAT BROTHER PAPYRUS THAT SANS NEEDS TO STOP HIS HORRID PUN HABIT!" Papyrus turned to Harry for support, and Sans winked at the kid from behind the taller skeleton's back.

Harry raised his hands in defense. "Hey, I'm not taking sides here. You guys work it out between you. I just met you both today. I like you both for different reasons. I happen to enjoy Sans' puns sometimes and other times they are groan-inducing and grating on the nerves."

"heh, nice diplomatic approach kiddo" Sans approved, winking. "hey, Paps, how about dinner for the kid. im sure he's starving"

Papyrus shook his head. "THIS CONVERSATION IS NOT OVER SANS. BUT YES, I WILL MAKE SOME DINNER. PERHAPS SOME… SPAGHETTI! I HEARD IT'S A POPULAR HUMAN DISH!" Sans groaned to himself.

Then he turned to the kid as soon as Papyrus was out of the room. "hey kid. Why don't you take that sweater off, and take a shower? Your wings could sure use it, and then you could perhaps… do me a _huge_ favor?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Welcome back! I wonder what Sans' HUGE favor is? Only time will tell! I hope you all enjoyed this installment and keep coming back for more! :D Flying Dragonite, signing off~


	13. Spaghetti - Attempt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey all! So sorry this is a bit late, both me and my beta have been busy! I had a crisis of myself the past week that landed me in the hospital again so forgive me for taking a week off. ANYWAY, I'm back and better than ever, so let's get back to Harry and how he is doing, huh?

Papyrus was surprised when Harry showed up in the kitchen a while later, him having gone out to buy groceries. "YOUNG HARRY! DID YOU WANT TO HELP ME MAKE DINNER?" he asked the hybrid as he paced around the kitchen, trying to remember the ingredients from what he remembered from Mettaton's show. MTT Brand Edible Glitter, MTT Brand Noodles, MTT Brand Tomatoes, the list went on, all MTT Brand, of course, no higher quality ingredients existed!

"Uh, I guess… Sans just suggested that I help you? He said that I could show you the 'human way' of making spaghetti, as a, uhm, 'cultural reference'? I didn't really understand," Harry shrugged, like it didn't really matter to him.

Papyrus was elated. "THAT'S A WONDERFUL IDEA! I COULD SHOW YOU HOW METTATON MAKES SPAGHETTI, AND YOU COULD TRY IT, THEN YOU COULD SHOW ME HOW HUMANS MAKE SPAGHETTI AND WE COULD TRY THAT AND WE COULD DECIDE WHICH ONE IS SUPERIOR… (OBVIOUSLY METTON'S WILL BE SUPERIOR BUT WHO COULD BEAT METTATON)?!"

Harry looked star-struck about this idea, and Papyrus beamed at him. "Alright, I guess. Got nothing else to do, anyway." The hybrid shrugged happily.

Papyrus was excited. He retrieved the pot and filled it with water. "OK, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO HEAT THE WATER TO A BOIL, AND MEANWHILE, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO START MAKING THE SAUCE. METTATON'S COOKING SHOW IS 'COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT' SO HE CUTS UP HIS VEGETABLES WITH HIS CHAINSAW. HE SAYS PASSION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF COOKING!"

Harry coughed behind him, and Papyrus hoped that didn't mean his new brother was developing a cold! That would be terrible. He was sure, though, that his spaghetti would help knock any cold right out on its head!

Papyrus grabbed the tomatoes, cilantro, and chives from the crisper and put them on the counter, and summoned his bone attacks, sharpening them to points. He aimed them down and stabbed with all his might, splattering the walls with the remains of the vegetables. He was very pleased with the result, scraping the mess into a new pan and putting it on low heat.

He turned to look at Harry, very proud of himself, to see the young male's green eyes wide with shock and awe at his greatness. Papyrus smiled. "AH, YOUNG HARRY, IT WARMS MY SOUL TO SEE YOU SO IN AWE AT MY GREATNESS. YOU SIMPLY _MUST_ WATCH METTATON WITH ME SOMETIME. HE'S AWESOME, EVEN GREATER THAN I AM, SURPRISING AS THAT IS ( _SWOON_ )!"

Harry seemed to choke then, and Papyrus turned, concerned in an instant. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT, BROTHER HARRY? YOU HAVEN'T SWALLOWED ANY SPAGHETTI YET HAVE YOU?! IT'S NOT DONE!"

Harry shook his head frantically. "No, no, I'm alright, Paps, I was just, uh, still in awe over yours and Mettaton's greatness."

Papyrus nodded, satisfied. "OH, ALRIGHTY, THEN." He turned to the stove, where the water was just beginning to boil. "OK, NOW METTATON SAYS WE'RE SUPPOSED TO THROW IN THE NOODLES AND TURN UP THE HEAT TO SIGNIFY OUR PASSION EVEN MORE!"

Harry made another awed noise behind him, and Papyrus grabbed the noodles. "METTATON IS SUCH A GREAT MONSTER. HE'S SO MAGNIFICENT; EVERYONE IN THE UNDERGROUND HAS A CRUSH ON HIM… (SWOON)…"

"Really?" Harry asked, seemingly concerned that others would be contesting his own awe of Mettaton.

"YES, UNFORTUNATELY," Papyrus lamented. "EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF THE FABULOUS METTATON…" He threw the noodles, box and all, into the boiling water with great force. It clanged against the bottom of the pot, splashing scalding water everywhere.

Harry yelped, dodging the water and Papyrus slid out of the way with the ease of someone who was used to quick projectile attacks. "YES, METTATON IS QUITE FAMOUS IN THE UNDERGROUND. OUR MOST FAMOUS CELEBRITY, INDEED. OUR ONLY CELEBRITY, REALLY," Papyrus continued his rant about the wonders of Mettaton as if nothing had happened.

"Wait, you guys only have one celebrity?" Harry interrupted suddenly, sounding upset.

Papyrus paused, about to start stirring vigorously. "YES, BROTHER HARRY. UNTIL METTATON CAME ALONG, WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A TV STAR! WE JUST HAD RERUNS OF HUMAN TELEVISION SHOWS!"

"Wow. Must be tough for him, as the only star of the Underground," Harry commented lowly. "Got some respect for the guy."

"YES, METTATON IS VERY GREAT AND FABULOUS!" Papyrus agreed. "NOW, METTATON SAYS YOU MUST SHOW YOUR PASSION BY STIRRING VIGOROUSLY FOR A LONG TIME, NEVER LETTING THE NOODLES STICK TOGETHER!" He began stirring in the pot at an impossible speed, scattering some of the noodles across the kitchen as the wooden spoon sent the now-soggy box splitting open.

Papyrus examined the box and lifted it out of the water. "HMMMM. I DON'T THINK THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO IN, BUT METTATON DIDN'T SAY WE WERE SUPPOSED TO REMOVE THE NOODLES FROM THE BOX…"

"Maybe it was meant to be obvious?" Harry suggested, lifting his head from his hands, raising his eyebrow at Papyrus as he turned to look at his new younger brother. Papyrus lowered his own brow bones at Harry in an unamused stare.

"HA-HA, BROTHER HARRY, BUT I WILL NOT BE THWARTED BY A SOGGY BOX! INTO THE TRASH IT GOES!" And so into the trash it went. "NOW WE MUST STRAIN THE NOODLES AND MAKE SURE THE SAUCE IS AS HOT AS OUR PASSION!"

Papyrus retrieved the colander from the cupboard above the stove, and poured the noodles over the sink, the top quarter of the noodles still stiff and the bottom three-quarters limp and lifeless. "HMM… IT DOESN'T QUITE LOOK LIKE METTATON'S, BUT NO MATTER…" Papyrus hummed.

He removed the sauce from the heat and poured it over the spaghetti and placed a good amount on each plate. "NOW FOR THE TASTE TEST! NYEH-HEHEHEHEH!"

He noticed Harry looking at the plate with a strange expression on his face already. "AH-HAH! YOU ARE ALREADY ENVIOUS OF MY COOKING PROWESS! DO NOT WORRY, BROTHER HARRY! I WILL BE SURE TO TEACH YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW!" He assured the young hybrid.

"W-well, it's just, since we'll be making mine to taste-test as well, should we put a little less on each plate to test?" Harry suggested innocently.

"OH YES! THAT IS PROBABLY A GOOD IDEA. WE'LL PUT THE REST IN CONTAINERS FOR SANS TO TAKE ON SENTRY DUTY, AND ME TO TAKE TO TRAINING!" Papyrus announced.

Papyrus paused, looking down at the plates of spaghetti. "OH MY GOSH!" He exclaimed. "I CANNOT BELIEVE I ALMOST FORGOT THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT! MTT-BRAND-EDIBLE GLITTER!" He grabbed a cylindrical container and began pouring an insane amount of glitter over the plates of spaghetti.

Harry sat there, staring in awe at the beautiful plates of spaghetti, and Papyrus beamed happily. "WELL, EAT UP, BROTHER HARRY! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE WHEN YOU TRY METTATON'S EXCELLENT SPAGHETTI! RECIPE!" Papyrus burst out, vibrating with excitement.

The young hybrid sat there for a moment, seeming unable to move. Then, mechanically, he reached out with a fork. He took a small portion and paused with the fork near his mouth, then stuffed it in his mouth and chewed. His expression turned indescribable as his mouth twisted and his chewing slowed and then stopped as he swallowed before taking the glass of water that was in front of him and drinking several gulps.

"That was… uh…" Harry paused as he looked up into the hopeful eyes of Papyrus.

"OH! YOU'RE SPEECHLESS! I KNEW IT WOULD BE GOOD! I'LL TRY IT NOW!"

Harry watched as Papyrus sat down and immediately stuffed a large glob of spaghetti in his mouth before he could say anything. Papyrus immediately paused, crunching down on the spaghetti thoughtfully. It wasn't like any monster food he had ever tasted before. It was crunchy and soft at the same time and the sauce was different.

He wouldn't say that he immediately disliked it, but it was strange, like it could be really good if prepared in a different way, maybe? But he didn't want to offend Harry! He swallowed and took a few drinks. "HUMANS ENJOY THIS STRANGE DISH? HOW INTERESTING… I'LL MAKE IT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT THOUGH, BROTHER HARRY!" Papyrus insisted, wanting to make Harry happy.

Harry shook his head. "Why don't I show you how _humans_ make it, remember?" he winked.

Papyrus brought his hand to his head. "OF COURSE! PERHAPS SOMETHING WAS LOST IN TRANSLATION!" _Plus, Mettaton DOES have the tendency to be a TAD flamboyant…_ Papyrus reminded himself. "WELL THEN, BROTHER HARRY, I WILL LET YOU TEACH ME HOW TO PROPERLY COOK SPAGHETTI!" He looked around the kitchen. "…AFTER I CLEAN UP, AND WE GET SOME MORE INGREDIENTS AT THE STORE."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Well! That went pretty well, all considering. Papyrus, you are adorable.


	14. In Spite of it All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Here we go, another chapter down! I really need to kick my butt in gear when it comes to pre-written chapters; I'm running out of them... O_o Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter!

Harry chuckled as Papyrus cleaned up the kitchen from the mess he had made, making spaghetti 'the monster way'. He stood up from the table and did his best to help Papyrus out, despite repeated objections from the taller skeleton.

"IT'S MY MESS, YOU DIDN'T MAKE IT, BROTHER HARRY!"

"I APPRECIATE THE HELP, BROTHER HARRY, BUT YOU ARE TOO SMALL TO REACH THIS MESS!"

"REALLY HARRY, I'VE GOT THIS!"

"I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SAY THIS, BUT YOU NEED TO BE MORE LIKE SANS!"

Privately, Harry just thought that Papyrus liked being the one to take care of the household and Sans enjoyed being taken care of and the façade they put up of fighting about it was just that: a façade. If it wasn't a front, their relationship would have fallen apart a long time ago.

"Paps, it's fine," he said. "I don't like to just sit on my butt while someone's working their tail off in front of me. It bothers me, alright?"

Papyrus sighed. "ALRIGHT, BROTHER HARRY, BUT WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS A CHORE SCHEDULE SO YOU'RE NOT DOING ALL THE CHORES WHILE SANS AND I ARE AWAY DURING THE DAY!"

Harry blinked. How had Papyrus guessed that was what he was going to do? He hadn't guessed that Papyrus would be that discerning. Sans, sure, but Papyrus? He mostly acted like a big goof; in fact, he kind of reminded him of Hagrid in a way, but more confident in himself and less… sycophantic towards a particular person (Dumbledore in the case of Hagrid).

Papyrus sent him a grin. "I'M SMARTER THAN A LOT OF MONSTERS THINK, BROTHER HARRY," he said, and though it was said jokingly, with a smile, Harry got the impression there was some hidden pain in that statement. He frowned, berating himself for taking Papyrus at face-value and not looking deeper. It really should have been obvious that there was more to the taller skeleton than his over-exuberance and kindness. There was always more to a person than just their outsides; wasn't he the proof of that?

"I'm sorry, Papyrus," he said sincerely.

Papyrus looked down at him with a crooked smile. "IT'S ALRIGHT, BROTHER HARRY. I UNDERSTAND MORE THAN YOU THINK. BUT… NOW ISN'T THE TIME FOR THAT CONVERSATION."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked seriously.

Papyrus was also serious. "IT'S A CONVERSATION THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN WITH SANS IN THE ROOM, AND NEEDS TO HAPPEN WHEN YOU'RE READY TO TELL US."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "Tell you what?" He was nervous now, rubbing his wrists. Papyrus' eyeholes burned into his pupils.

"YOU KNOW WHAT… ASGORE KNOWS BECAUSE OF THE EMPATHY MAGIC, BUT HE WOULDN'T TELL ANYONE. WE HAVEN'T PUSHED, HARRY. BUT WE KNOW THE SIGNS. WE ALSO KNOW THAT YOU'RE NOT READY TO TELL ANYONE YET, AND THAT'S OK. BUT WHEN YOU'RE READY TO TELL, WE'RE READY TO LISTEN," Papyrus explained.

Harry looked down. He hated that they knew. He hated that _everyone_ knew that he was a _freak,_ a _monster_ , a _thing_ that no one had ever liked or loved, that –he was suddenly engulfed in a bony hug, and his initial instinct was to push away, but then he melted into it, and hugged back, laying his head against a ribcage, a thin grey shirt the only thing between him and the bones.

A humming began, and a white glow lit up, outlining an upside-down heart inches from his face. It was soothing, being so close to a Soul like this. It made him feel comforted, like nothing could touch him in this moment, nor ever again. His own sideways Soul began humming in response, and also began to glisten in its own strange bluish-white light.

Unbeknownst to him, his eyes were gleaming a deep emerald under the lids, a mystical fire burning from deep within him to escape his eyes, and his feathers had either turned invisible or retreated magically somehow, leaving his wing bones bare. Papyrus' eyes were also flaring, a bright orange, supernatural fire.

The two pseudo-brothers stayed like this for several minutes, soaking in each other's magic and humming Souls, taking comfort in each other. Harry didn't know how to feel. No-one had ever been able to make him feel this way before, even _Sirius_ … though he had been the closest thing, for sure. Tears escaped from his closed lids, burning off immediately as they hit the mystical fire escaping from under his lids. The tears seemed to fuel the fire more, flaring it out further, making it burn brighter and larger than before.

"IT'S OK, BROTHER HARRY… LET IT ALL OUT," Papyrus whisper-shouted, in his way, to Harry, laying his skull on top of Harry's head. One might think it would be uncomfortable to have an uncovered jaw right on top of one's head, but it wasn't. It was comforting in its own way as well. Harry hugged Papyrus tighter, more tears slipping into the fire spreading from his eyes.

Unbeknownst to the hybrid, he was releasing years and years of pent-up emotions in a skeleton way, i.e. eye-glowing, which Papyrus knew and was letting him do in a safe and secure manner without alarming the young hybrid. The fire burned for a good ten minutes or so, releasing Harry's emotions to the air, draining him of energy, until he had fallen asleep in Papyrus' arms, slumping as his Soul stopped humming, fading until the glowing had stopped. The fire dimmed until there was no glow coming from him any longer, and his feathers reappeared slowly, shimmering and rustling as they smoothed out over his bones.

\- Line Break -

Sans appeared in the threshold of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe, looking at Papyrus and the sleeping Harry in his arms. "fell asleep, huh?" he asked quietly.

"YEAH," Papyrus said as quietly as he could manage, but Harry didn't even stir in his arms.

Papyrus leaned down and picked up the hybrid under his knees, lifting up his new brother to hold him in his arms better, and Harry immediately snuggled against his glowing Soul, as if to hold him closer, like a teddy bear. A fond smile crossed Papyrus' face.

"poor kid. he's been through hell" Sans said darkly, and Papyrus knew without looking that Sans' eyes were black, and his own eyes burned brighter orange, knowing what Harry must have gone through to get Sans as upset as he must be.

"I'M GOING TO PUT HIM IN MY BED FOR NOW," Papyrus said, as quietly as he could muster.

He carried Harry up the stairs and into his room, opening his door with blue magic carefully, not wanting to crush the doorknob by accident, like Sans had done that one time. He set Harry down on the bed and covered him up, smoothing out the blankets so that they covered the hybrid completely, and surrounded him with plenty of stuffed animals so that Harry could grab onto something to sleep with in the night, like Papyrus was wont to do. Harry immediately grabbed the old fluff bunny Papyrus remembered from back in… _those_ days.

Papyrus flinched, a sharp pain going through his head. The orange flames escaping from his eyes flared as he turned away and he held a hand to his head. Images swarmed through his head that he pushed away immediately, stumbling out of the room. He barely shut the door quietly behind him. Sans was outside the door, and caught him, hushing him.

He seemed to be prepared for this eventuality. Papyrus slid down on his knees, hugging his brother, and Sans hugged back, his own Soul beginning to hum. Sans wasn't as good at glowing as Papyrus, blinded in one eye as he was, but his Soul was able to hum just fine, though it was cracked and had lower HoPe than even Harry had. Sans' right eye began to flare as it flickered between blue and yellow.

\- Line Break -

Sans wanted to scream and yell. He wanted to decimate the creatures that had done this to his new brother, that had destroyed the HoPe and trust in Harry; that had convinced him that he wasn't worth anything, that he was nothing. He wanted nothing more than to track them down and grind their bones into dust, until they were nothing more than ash scattered on the wind.

Papyrus was hugging him, holding him, and Sans could feel his Soul humming in time with Papyrus'. He sighed, knowing that Papyrus would never forgive him if he were to hurt anyone, even people who deserved it, like the creatures who had done such horrible things to Harry. Even… _him_ , who had done such horrid things to them, Papyrus had forgiven and not been able to harm. Sans knew he had to hold in his anger. He'd find an outlet somewhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: What's with all the depressing ends? I can't seem to end a chapter except on a low note. Oops. Well, hopefully things will get better soon. Hope you all enjoyed the story!


	15. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hello everyone! So sorry it's been so long! Both me and my beta have been crazy busy, and I'm going to be even busier starting May 8, as I start college! Woooooo! So I hope you enjoy the chapter! EDIT: Sorry for the uploading confusion! It took me a moment to realize I'd accidentally uploaded chapter 16 instead of 15!

The next day, Harry woke up unsure of where he was, groggy and very hungry. His stomach rumbled and he found his nose buried in a very old patched rabbit that was almost flat, there was so little stuffing in it. He peered around the room confusedly. He wasn’t at the Dursley’s, that was for sure. He caught a glimpse of movement out the corner of his eye and froze for a second. Was that… a feather?

He turned his head and stared at the wing that stuck halfway out of his shoulder and a half-moan, half-yelp left his throat before sticking there as everything from the day before came flooding back to him. He flopped onto his stomach, burying his face into the rabbit, as footsteps out in the hall announced the arrival of someone before the door was flung open.

“BROTHER HARRY! ARE YOU AWAKE? OR ARE YOU PRETENDING TO BE ASLEEP, LIKE SANS DOES IN THE MORNING, DESPITE ME KNOWING THAT HE IS IN FACT AWAKE BECAUSE HE SMELLS MRS. LAPIN’S DELICIOUS CINNAMON BUNNIES!” Papyrus announced, entering the room.

Harry moaned, turning his head to sniff at the air. His fluffy ears pricked up immediately as a heavenly smell drifted into his nose. He turned  over , throwing off the covers tangled  over  his body and wings. “I’m up,” he groaned.

“GOOD! THEN YOU SHOULD GET UP AND BRUSH YOUR HAIR! THERE IS ANOTHER SWEATER AND A PAIR OF TROUSERS ON THE CHAIR NEXT TO THE BED!” Papyrus’ voice retreated from next to him and then the door shut, though the light remained on.

Harry brought up his hands to rub at his eyes, feeling sharp claws against his eyelids at first, but they retreated quickly with no active thoughts from Harry, leaving him with a thin layer of skin against bone pressed gently against his eyes. He rubbed gently at the crusty layer of dried tears, brushing them off his lashes and out of his eyes.

Then he opened his eyes to a room he had never seen before. He was spread out on a giant car bed, the bed stretching much farther than he was tall –it must have been Papyrus’ bed- and a table stretched along the wall next to the bed, lined with various action figure monsters, a blue sweater and brown trousers laid over a wooden chair greeting him. His eyes swept over the rest of the room, noting the skull-and-crossbones flag and the tall bookshelf, along with the computer set up along the back of the room.

How  _ did _ monsters have access to muggle technology? He still had yet to ask all the questions filling his brain, from the weather to the ability to produce food, to knowledge and access to current muggle technology and culture. King Asgore’s memories had filled in some of the blanks, obviously some humans had fallen down, but not everything could be explained away by humans falling down the mountain, could it? Some key explanations were missing here.

Harry groaned and rolled out of the bed. He stood up and stretched, his wings spreading out, brushing the edges of the walls and the tips touching the ceiling before retreating quickly upon touching them, reflexively. Harry blinked, the feeling of his wings was strange, different than anything else he had felt before –it was different to feel his bones, having felt through his skin and nerves his entire life up to this point. 

Harry wasn’t sure how to react to all the changes going through his body. A part of him wanted to scream and curl into a ball, deny these changes, and another part of him wanted to just embrace them as they came and enjoy his new life. He just didn’t know what to do. The smell of cinnamon drifted through the air again, causing his stomach to growl and his new catlike ears to twitch, only underscoring his concerns.

The young wizard sighed. He felt like such a child. He kept having these breakdowns, where he would just cry for no reason! He didn’t feel like himself any more, down here in the Underground. It made him think that there was something wrong with him, something serious was going on with his emotions. He felt so unstable all the time, and everything seemed to set him off.

He looked over at the chair holding the new clothes for the day, and decided that he wasn’t getting anything done just worrying over everything. He undressed and, folding his wings firmly against his spine, he carefully pulled the sweater over his head, finding that slits had been cut in the back already for his wings to easily emerge from the back with relief. He pulled up the brown trousers, finding with greater relief that with the trousers meant for skeletons, they fit his thin form quite well.

He crossed the room, carrying his dirty laundry with him, and opened the door. No one was on the second floor so he walked down the stairs, finding that his shoes had somehow disappeared during the night. He crossed the carpeted living room in his bare feet, poking his head around the open kitchen wall, spotting Papyrus standing at the ridiculously tall sink, washing some dishes.

“Uh, where’s the laundry basket?” Harry asked, holding up his dirty clothes. Papyrus’ head shot up, clearly not expecting to hear his voice.

“AHH! OH, IT’S JUST YOU, BROTHER HARRY! YOU STARTLED ME! DON’T WORRY, I’LL TAKE CARE OF IT!” Papyrus shouted happily, crossing the kitchen and taking the clothes from Harry’s arms despite his protests, gesturing to the kitchen table. “WHY DON’T YOU SIT DOWN AND ENJOY THE CINNAMON BUNNIES! MRS. LAPIN GAVE THEM TO ME FOR FREE; SHE SAID IT WAS A WELCOME TO SNOWDIN GIFT FOR YOU, HARRY!”

Harry sighed. He wasn’t going to win an argument over doing his own laundry today, it seemed. So he turned around to sit down at the table –and just about had a heart attack when he saw Sans standing behind him.

“sup, kid?”  Sans greeted him with a lazy wink.

“Wha- how di- you wer-” Harry cut himself off and just gave Sans a suspicious glare before giving Sans a slight shove to get past him and collapsing into a chair.

“wow, that was rude, kid”  Sans replied, walking to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of ketchup and squirting it into his mouth somehow without actually opening his mouth.

Harry made a disgusted face. “Yeah, morning to you too, Sans,” he grumbled. “I’m… I’m not sure I’m myself.”

Sans rose an eyebrow. “not sure what you mean there, buddy. you look like yourself to me.”

“I mean, I’m not really acting myself,” Harry tried to explain, feeling awkward, grabbing one of the bunny-shaped pastries on the plate in front of him. He examined it. It looked like a cinnamon roll but in the shape of a bunny. He tried it, and it was really good! “Like, I, uh… I don’t usually cry all the time and all that crap,” he mumbled around the pastry. “I’m not an emotional guy, you know? I mean sure, I have a temper, but I’m not a crybaby. There’s something up with that.”

It was at that moment that Papyrus decided to enter the room. “BROTHER HARRY!” he scolded immediately. “WE DO NOT THINK YOU ARE A CRYBABY! YOU HAVE GONE THROUGH A LOT IN YOUR LIFE, ESPECIALLY RECENTLY. IT IS NOT A WEAKNESS TO CRY, AND I WILL NOT HAVE YOU THINKING THAT IT IS WRONG TO LEAN ON OTHERS ONCE IN A WHILE, OR TO HAVE FEELINGS AND LET THEM OUT THROUGH CRYING!”

Sans cleared his throat. “yeah, kid. there’s nothing wrong with you having the occasional cry every now and then. you’ve been through a lot, kiddo, and by the sounds of it, you’ve never had the chance to process it correctly. of course you’re going to be going through some upheaval right now while you  _ do _ process it. but if it makes you feel better, we can have you checked out by a doctor, make sure there’s no spells on you or whatever makes you feel comfortable.”

Harry nodded. “I’d like that. I just can’t get rid of this feeling like something’s really wrong.”

Sans looked concerned.  “i’ll take you to the doctor today then. Asgore probably knows someone who knows something about human magic. i’ll get in touch with him.”  He walked out of the kitchen.

Harry looked to Papyrus. “Can he like teleport or something?”

Papyrus looked surprised. “OF COURSE HE CAN. HE CALLS THEM HIS ‘SHORTCUTS’!”

Harry looked after Sans. What a mysterious guy…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Wonder what Sans is doing? :D I guess you'll see next chapter! Thanks everyone!


	16. Explanations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: In apology for being so long to upload, you get two chapters this time!

Sans found himself in New Home in the middle of rush hour, with citizens going left and right, as they hurried to their jobs and no one had the time to stop for a skeleton in a hurry to see the king. He should have teleported straight to the Judgement Hall, but hindsight was twenty-twenty, and now he was stuck in the middle of a rush of monsters with nowhere safe to teleport if he didn't want to accidentally teleport a dozen or so monsters with him by accident.

"Make way! Royal Guard on duty! DUDE GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Sans heard the tell-tale roar of Undyne over the crowd, and thanked the gods that luck was on his side. He slowly made his way over to the tall, armored fish woman. He was surprised to see her in her full regalia; usually she only walked around in full armor if there was a human about. Immediately his guard went up. The human wasn't meant to come for several months, so this could only mean that she caught wind of Harry, and that meant that Sans had damage control to do here.

"hey" he greeted her from behind, causing Undyne to wheel around, spear flashing.

He dodged effortlessly –or at least, he made it appear effortless. "woah there, Undyne. someone's a bit _edgy_ today" he joked, winking at the glaring Captain of the Royal Guard.

"SANS! Don't sneak up on me! I was _THIS_ close to dusting you!" She shrieked angrily.

"heh, as if you could have hit _me_ " Sans scoffed. Undyne rolled her one good eye, stabbing her spear down in a fit of frustration. It sunk into the tiled walkway a good foot or two into the stone.

"So you've heard about the rumors too?" Undyne asked. Sans didn't blink, didn't show anything on his face as he waited for her to continue. "I don't believe it. There's _NO WAY_ a human made it all the way to Asgore without the rest of us knowing!" Undyne whispered furiously. "Asgore doesn't have all the souls! I'm gonna confront him about these rumors. They've gotta stop! We Royal Guardsmen can't do our duties with the people running about like this!"

Sans' mask nearly slipped from his control at the revelation. What was going on in the castle? What in the world was Asgore doing that such rumors were going around? He _needed_ to talk to Asgore, **now**.

"you're right. we need to talk to Asgore, but not for all the reasons you think" he said to Undyne.

"What do you mean, Sans? What's going on? You know what's going on here, don't you?" Undyne said, looking at him suspiciously.

"some of it, i do. not all of it. that's why i'm going to see Asgore as well" Sans replied. "i should have taken a shortcut straight to the Judgement Hall but i got caught up in this mess. now we have to get through here"

"Leave it to me," Undyne said grimly.

"don't cause a pani-!" Sans started to say, but it was too late.

"ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF NEW HOME! METTATON IS GIVING FREE SIGNED PHOTOS OF HIMSELF IN MTT HOTEL FOR THE NEXT HOUR, AS LONG AS YOU GIVE THE SECRET PASSWORD TO BURGERPANTS!" Undyne roared as loud as she possibly could in the square. "THE SECRET PASSWORD IS: 'THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH'!'"

Sans watched in disbelief as New Home was emptied in five seconds flat as the majority of the citizens ran off to get the promised signed pictures from Mettaton. "dipstick's really _that_ popular?" he muttered to himself.

Undyne grunted next to him. "What can you expect? There's really nothing else to watch, and he's a diva. Better than nothing. Let's get going before the people who didn't hear the announcement come pouring in."

They hurried across New Home as quickly as they could, making it to Asgore's home within fifteen minutes. They entered through a hidden entrance, and went to the basement. They then traveled through the section of town that led to the Judgement Hall.

Undyne turned to Sans and eyed him. "You're not going to Judge my Soul again, are you?" She asked warily.

Sans snorted. "nah, i only do that once, unless you give me good reason to do it again. why? got you worried i'll do it again?"

Undyne was defensive. "HEY! It's not like I'm SCARED of you or anything! You're just freaking CREEPY when you Judge people, man!"

Sans just chuckled. The idea of creeping out Undyne of all people tickled the short skeleton pink. "So, you think i'm creepy?" he asked her, grinning, while giving her a wink.

"You tell anyone I said that, and I'll shove a spear through your gut, one HP or not, Sans!" Undyne growled.

Sans laughed, holding up his hands. "relax, _gill_. your secret's safe with me"

Undyne glared. "Don't think I didn't catch that awful pun, Sans," she snapped, pushing past him as she entered the Judgement Hall ahead of him.

Sans chuckled and followed the fish woman into the Hall, spotting her hurrying past the golden pillars as fast as possible. The sight made him grin, but he kept silent, knowing that Undyne would indeed smack him if he were to say anything on the matter, and he didn't feel like dodging her blows right now. They were in a hurry, anyway.

Most monsters didn't enter the Throne Room through this way –this was the back entrance, really, known only to those who worked for the king, and it was the entrance that humans were led along, to minimize panic and danger with a murderous human. Sans and Undyne hurried through the hall and took a left out of the large entryway that led into the Central Wing of the Castle.

From there, they walked along the hallway a ways and took a right and to the back entrance to the Throne Room. Two armored guards stood at attention, nodding at Sans and Undyne, but blocking the entrance.

"we need to see the king" Sans told them seriously. The guards made no expression under their helms, but stood firm.

"We're under strict orders not to let anyone in. He's talking to his advisor privately," One guard said, almost apologetically.

Undyne formed a spear, stamping the ground with it, making a loud clanging noise. "I am YOUR CAPTAIN!" She roared. "This is an EMERGENCY!"

Both guards flinched, but stood firm, though the so-far-silent guard was quivering.

"at least tell him that the Judge and the Captain of the Royal Guard are here" Sans requested, his hands in his pockets, winking lazily at the guard who had spoken before.

If the guard had been intimidated before, he was definitely intimidated now. He nudged his companion toward the door, and the other guard opened the door on trembling knees, slipping in the room. There was silence for a moment, only broken by an awkward cough from the guards-monster, before the other guard came back, bowing in submission.

"Your M-majesty welcomes you into his Throne R-room i-immediately!" he stammered out with a squeaky voice, and backed away. Sans and Undyne moved past the guards and let the door shut behind them, entering the throne room to see Asgore talking to another monster.

The monster was a quadruped, stout monster, with four short legs that held up a thick body and an elephantine head with large, Dumbo-like ears. It also had small wings on its body that really didn't seem like they would do anything, though its species clearly had designs of flying one day, as stacked on top of its head were two more little wing-like appendages. A long, whip-like tail with a pouf of fur sticking from the end swished through the air as the monster made a clear point to Asgore, accentuated with a stomp of a front foot.

"ah, we having some _elefunt_ around here?" Sans cracked a joke immediately, winking at the female monster. Elefount, the King's Advisor, whom Sans only knew from reputation, turned towards them, rolling her eyes.

"And who is this, interrupting what I believed was supposed to be a _private_ meeting, Your Majesty?" Elefount asked, sounding impatient.

"Ah, Sans, Undyne! Welcome, welcome! Don't mind Elefount, she's always in a mood," Asgore greeted them kindly, beckoning them into the middle of the flower-strewn room, though it seemed to be more of a courtyard or a garden with a throne on one side and a table in the middle that seemed to be able to rise in and out of the ground.

"Honestly, Your Majesty!" Elefount protested. "I recognize Undyne, of course, but who is this… Sans character? And we must still discuss this _plan_ of yours! I have many questions of concern for you! I am sure Undyne will agree with me once she hears of it!"

"What? What is it?" Undyne stepped forward questioningly, giving a respectful nod towards Elefount, which the advisor returned. "I've heard rumors, Sire…" Undyne trailed off, and Sans raised an eyebrow bone. It wasn't like Undyne to be uncertain of herself.

But Asgore was already waving the Captain off, a frustrated look on his face. "Yes, yes… _those rumors!_ I have no idea who started them or where they got the idea from; but I have _not_ faced off with a human child and gathered the seventh soul!" He burst out. Sans didn't know how to feel about this news. On the one hand, he was happy that Asgore hadn't had to face the menace that had been haunting him throughout many resets. On the other, that meant it was still on its way

"I knew a human couldn't have snuck past our defenses!" Undyne crowed, shoving her spear in the air triumphantly. She turned to Sans, beaming. "Like I said, nothing to worry about, Sans! What has you all up in a twist anyway?! Elefount always has something to complain about, but you avoid work like the plague, Sans! So, what could possibly have _you_ in a tizzy?!" Undyne asked

Elefount stomped a foot behind Undyne indignantly, swishing her tail in annoyance. "Excuse me, Undyne, but you have yet to hear His Majesty's ludicrous plan to set the Human Souls loose!" she squeaked.

Undyne's expression froze as her grip on her spear suddenly became ridged.

Sans tutted. "that was rather tactless, i think" he stage-whispered in the suddenly silent room.

Both Elefount and Undyne threw him a look of disgust as they turned on Asgore with demanding expressions.

Asgore seemed thunderstruck to see the two females ganging up on him. "Don't look at me like that! It's the best for everyone in the end!"

"The best for everyone?!" Undyne repeated angrily. "How is it the best for everyone if you _throw away_ the only solution we have to the ONE big problem facing everyone: THE BARRIER!"

"Undyne, calm yourself!" Asgore ordered, regaining his kingly aura, shutting the fish-woman up, though she still looked furious. "Now, if you will stand there and let me explain, I will tell you exactly why that reasoning is faulty."

Undyne frowned, echoing Elefount's own frown, but Asgore swiped his hand across the air in front of him. "I won't hear any more arguments! I am the king, as you would do well to remember, Undyne, as lax as I may be at times!" Asgore lectured.

Undyne took the admonishment well, lowering her head for a moment before raising it back up and stating, "I am sorry, Your Majesty. I allowed my temper to run away from me."

Elefount chimed in with a short, "Sorry Your Majesty."

Sans found the exchange interesting –he had never seen King Asgore so serious.

Asgore sighed, and turned away, looking towards the back of the room, where the corridor to the Barrier was. "I fear that I have made a grave mistake… A mistake that has affected my people for far too long." Asgore paused for a moment, then went on: "I have misjudged humans, and for that, six young lives have been lost for no other reason than my own petty need for revenge. Not only that; but six young souls have been stuck in Limbo, unable to pass on to the proper afterlife, for far too long. This is my burden, and mine alone to bear, as the responsible party for each of their murders… But no more. My new son has opened my eyes to the truth, and I will not be blinded by revenge any longer. If only it had occurred before so many lives were lost…"

Asgore sighed again. Sans could hear the pain in the king's voice, and it pierced him straight to his Soul. Sans could see the regret that plagued the boss monster, plain as day, and as he continued staring at Asgore, an aura of red seemed to surround the boss monster.

Sans' permanent grin tightened painfully as wrinkles appeared in the bone around his eye-sockets, his mood lowering as the numbers in his mind's eye counted up and up. _That's the expression of someone who's killed six times._

"New son?!" Undyne finally broke the silence that had befallen the group of monsters.

"Yes, my new son. A being of such _pure_ kindness and intentions, that to think I had ever believed him a danger to my people… It's unthinkable, what might have happened if he had died… He signifies a new hope, Undyne. For once in a very long time, I see HoPe for our kind to escape this Underground and live peacefully on the surface. For you see, he is a hybrid. A hybrid of human and monster, mundane and mage. He could be the key to peace between all monsters and humans!" Asgore declared.

"A… hybrid?" Undyne gasped, her eyes wide. "But... such a thing isn't possible! It's just a myth!"

Asgore paused, turning his gaze to the ceiling, his eyes growing distant as he stared at nothing in particular. "So I thought, too, until I came upon Harry. But believe it, you must, because it's true. Harry is a true hybrid of monster and human. He is even a mage –though he was raised by mundane humans."

Sans rose a brow-bone at the news of Harry being a mage. The news was startling, but not really surprising. It explained a lot of things, actually. Harry had seemed familiar with non-human sentience and was understanding of the attitude humans had towards monsters, despite not knowing anything about monsters before landing in the Underground –this could be explained now, by his knowledge as a mage. Undoubtedly, he had learned of these things in his studies as a mage.

"A mage?! This is even worse than I feared!" Undyne practically shouted. "How can you just stand there, your Majesty?! A mage means danger for our citizens! Who knows how many monsters he is cutting through, even now?!" The captain of the Royal Guard was furious, breathing heavily and glaring out of her unpatched eye angrily.

"Undyne, there's snow problem," Sans punned, trying to calm the fish woman down. "Papyrus is keeping an eye-socket on the kid while I'm here. I'm sure they're just making spaghetti again…"

But it seemed like that was the wrong thing to say, for Undyne paled. "The mage is with Papyrus? ARE YOU INSANE?! He'll be cut up into tiny, smiling pieces!" Undyne was ready to march out of the throne room. But Sans, at a motion from Asgore, waved a hand, freezing Undyne in place as her soul was suddenly summoned and turned blue. "HEY! YOU LITTLE-! LET ME GO!"

"not until you're ready to hear us out," Sans stated seriously. "give me a little credit, will ya, Undyne? do you really think i'd leave Papyrus alone with the kid if i thought for one second that Harry would do something to him?"

Undyne's shoulders slumped. "I guess not," she admitted grudgingly. "But still-!"

"and you seem to have forgotten who the Judge is," Sans continued, staring at Undyne hard. "do you think i'm not capable of judging someone's character, even without fully Judging their soul? there's a reason Asgore has me posted at the entrance to the Ruins, after all"

Undyne sighed. "Alright, alright!" she burst out. "I get your point! I won't skewer the punk! But don't expect me to like him!"

Sans felt like this was enough, and let go of Undyne's soul, releasing her from his blue magic. Only to dodge to the right a second later as a spear thudded into the grass, impaling a golden flower through the center, right where he had been standing. "Don't ever do that again," Undyne spat, and turned around, striding out of the throne room in a huff.

"looks like i got under her scales," Sans chuckled, undisturbed by the attack.

"Quite. Now, Sans, did you have a reason for coming today? I'm afraid I forgot to ask in all the ruckus," Asgore asked, turning toward him.

"actually, yes, i did," Sans replied, and went on to explain what Harry had told him. "so i told him i'd get a doctor to check him out"

"Ah. Understandable. I shall tell Dr. Alphys to expect us in her lab," Asgore stated.

Sans nodded, satisfied. Alphys would be nervous, but surely she would know the best about how to treat anything she found –having studied both humans and monsters in her studies.

It would have to be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Woot! We got some character development here, for Sans, Asgore, and Undyne! And, introduced Elefount, one of my OCs! She's based off a picture I saw on deviantart! I may or may not introduce more new characters, depending on how I'm feeling. I was originally going to have the doctor that checked out Harry to be an OC, but ultimately went with Alphys in the end, because... well, it's ALPHYS. :3


	17. Spaghetti -Attempt 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'll admit, I was kinda ticked at several reviews that were basically: UPDATE NOW. Please don't bother to review if that's all you're going to say... I'll update when I'm ready, and that's that.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Harry sighed as hot water trickled down his back, the shower head spitting plenty of water over his head and onto his body. Papyrus had ordered him into the bathroom after breakfast was over, telling him that he needed another shower before the two of them went out to buy more groceries. So the young hybrid found himself in the tall shower, thinking things over.

He was grateful that Papyrus was so much taller than Sans, for the size of the shower allowed him to stretch his wings out one at a time to clean off the feathers. He had been able to clean up the night before, but even now, there was still blood and dust gathering on the patches where feathers had torn loose in his panic-stricken state.

He took the bar of soap from its cradle, and scrubbed it against a washcloth, sudsing it up and scrubbing it against his skin, hissing as the soap stung as it hit his skin. He wondered at the stinging. Maybe the soap was slightly acidic due to Papyrus’ and Sans’ skeletal nature needing something stronger? Or something to do with the Underground not having the same resources as Above.

Whatever it was, it was unpleasant, but it didn’t exactly  _ hurt _ , so he gritted his teeth and bared through it as he cleaned himself off. Harry didn’t know what to use on his feathers, so he just stuck to using hot water, and resolved to asking Papyrus while at the store if there was feather cleaner or something similar they could get.

Soon enough, he was clean, and he stepped out of the shower, drying himself off. He shrugged the red sweater on over his head, careful to get his head through the hole before trying to get his hands through the sleeves, and pulling the sweater over his wings and pulling them through the holes in the back of the sweater.

Then he walked into the living room, where Papyrus was watching the tele, which seemed to be showcasing a large metal calculator in a tutu posing dramatically. “Uh…” Harry mumbled awkwardly, seeing how Papyrus was glued to the tv.

“OH! YOUNG HARRY! ARE YOU DONE WITH YOUR SHOWER?” Papyrus exclaimed, tearing his eyes from the tele, turning toward him.

“Y-yeah, but we can wait if y-you’re busy!” Harry stammered.

“NONSENSE! IT’S A RERUN, ANYWAY!” Papyrus flapped his mittened hands. He looked down at Harry happily. “I’M READY FOR OUR SHOPPING TRIP!”

Papyrus crossed the room, and opened the door to the cold, waiting for Harry to cross the room and step outside the warm house. Harry shivered, but squared his shoulders, and walked the distance, stepping into the fresh snow outside the door. Somehow it had snowed during the night, leaving a fresh coat over their footprints from the night before.

“Papyrus?” Harry ventured as they crunched through the snow, heading for the town.

“YES, YOUNG HARRY?”

“Uh… how is it that it’s snowing here, anyway? We’re under a mountain, right?” Harry asked.

“AH, YES. WELL, YOUNG HARRY. IT’S THE WEATHER CYCLE. DUE TO THE WAY THE UNDERGROUND IS LAID OUT, IT’S LIKE IT WAS MADE TO SUPPORT A WEATHER SYSTEM. THERE IS WATERFALL, WHERE ALL THE WATER COMES FROM. THEN THERE IS THE HOTLANDS, WHICH HAS EXPOSED MAGMA. ALL THE WATER THAT EVAPORATES IN THE UNDERGROUND FLOODS TO THE HOTLANDS, AND RISES AND RISES, UNTIL IT COOLS, WHICH IT THEN RETURNS TO CLOUDS THAT RAIN OVER WATERFALL, AND THE WATERFALL CLOUDS RISE UP OVER THE CAVERN OVER SNOWDIN, WHICH FREEZES, AND FALLS IN SNOW OVER SNOWDIN. I’M AFRAID I DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF WEATHER THE RUINS GETS. BUT I BELIEVE MOST OF THE SNOW FALLS OVER SNOWDIN, SO I DOUBT IT GETS MUCH SNOW.”

“Huh. Who knew that a cavern could get large enough to support its own weather system under a mountain.” Harry muttered.

“WE’RE HERE, YOUNG HARRY!” Papyrus announced.

Harry looked up, seeing the Snowdin Shop before him. He watched as Papyrus ducked into the shop, and followed the tall skeleton into the shop. It was a small place, all of the merchandise behind a large wooden counter, behind which a tall purple bunny monster stood, wearing a tank-top, chewing bubble gum.

“Hey Papyrus! How are you doing, sweetie?” The purple bunny asked Papyrus as he entered. Harry was immediately reminded of Mrs. Weasley. When she noticed Harry lurking behind Papyrus, she immediately beamed. “And who is this young’n? I haven’t seen you before!”

“HELLO, MRS. LAPIN! THIS IS HARRY, MY NEW BROTHER!” Papyrus announced happily. “WE’RE HERE TO BUY SOME SPAGHETTI INGREDIENTS! HE’S GOING TO TEACH ME A NEW WAY!” Papyrus might have been exuberant, but even he knew better than to mention Harry’s hybrid status.

“Awww, isn’t that sweet? Well, I’ll hook you up straightaway!” Mrs. Lapin beamed, putting some ingredients in a bag for them. “Here you go then, dearies! Have fun!” She winked at Harry, causing him to blush.

“MRS. LAPIN, YOU HAVEN’T TOLD ME HOW MUCH TO PAY YOU!” Papyrus exclaimed.

“No charge this time, Papyrus!” Mrs. Lapin waved Papyrus off. “Just seeing how happy this makes you is enough for me,” she beamed.

Definitely Mrs. Weasley material, Harry thought privately. Papyrus looked indignant. “MRS. LAPIN! HOW CAN YOU AFFORD TO OPEN YOUR STORES IF YOU JUST GIVE AWAY YOUR WARES FOR FREE?! NO, I INSIST TO PAY FOR THE INGREDIENTS!”

Mrs. Lapin pinned Papyrus with a  _ look _ . “Are you suggesting that I cannot take care of myself, Papyrus?” she asked, her voice gaining an icy edge.

Papyrus gulped, seeming to realize he had stepped over an invisible line. “UUUHH. OF COURSE NOT, MRS. LAPIN… I ONLY MEANT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD NEVER SHORT CHANGE ANYONE… OR RESORT TO STEALING! THAT… THAT IS ALL I MEANT! ...NOT. NOT ANYTHING ELSE!” he seemed nervous, a sweatdrop forming on the back of his skull.

Mrs Lapin seemed satisfied. “Well then, there is no problem, because it’s not stealing if I give it away, now is it?” she said, her eyes gleaming in satisfaction.

Papyrus deflated a little, but nodded. “VERY WELL, MRS. LAPIN! YOU WIN… BUT NEXT TIME, I WILL PAY FOR EVERYTHING, MARK MY WORDS! NYEH-HEH-HEH!” Papyrus let out his signature laugh, and seemed to lighten up. 

Harry grinned at his pseudo-brother, wondering just what went on in that skeleton’s skull. It had to be a fun fest, for sure. “Come on, bro. Let’s go make spaghetti,” he said, laying a hand on his brother’s arm.

“NYEH! YOU ARE RIGHT, YOUNG HARRY! OFF TO THE HOUSE WE GO!!!” Papyrus exclaimed, and whooshed them out of the door, gripping the bag of ingredients between his arms.

“So, uh, Papyrus,” Harry questioned, figuring while he had the time he may as well ask all his questions while he could about the Underground. “How do monsters have all the human technology? Like, I saw a computer in your room earlier. Does it actually work and everything? How is that possible?”

“WELL, LOTS OF HUMAN STUFF HAS FALLEN DOWN THE GARBAGE DUMP IN WATERFALL AND THE SCIENTISTS IN HOTLAND HAVE REVERSE-ENGINEERED A LOT OF STUFF, LIKE COMPUTERS AND ROBOTS. WE’VE OF COURSE DONE A LOT OURSELVES, LIKE THE CORE, AND WE DO HAVE MAGIC ON OUR SIDE, DON’T FORGET, YOUNG HARRY.”

“Yeah… uh, how does that work, anyway? I’ve always been told that magic and muggle technology doesn’t work well together.” Harry commented.

“NYEH-HEH-HEH? WHAT DOES “MUGGLE” MEAN?” Papyrus asked.

Harry flushed. He’d forgotten he wasn’t with his friends… “Uh… you know, normal humans, that don’t have magic…”

“OH! WELL THEN, WHERE DID YOU HEAR THAT? IT’S NONSENSE! MAGIC AND TECHNOLOGY WORKS WONDERS TOGETHER. JUST LOOK AT METTATON! HE’S A MAGIC ROBOT, AFTER ALL. WELL, MAGIC, ROBOT, AND SOUL POWER!”

“Oh… huh.” Harry’s head was spinning. Was everything he’d ever known wrong? He’d reserve judgment for later, but everything was coming down around his ears and the more he learned, the less he trusted what he’d been taught for so long. 

“IT’S ALRIGHT, HARRY. THINGS WILL BE OK, IN THE END.” Papyrus looked down at him gently. He looked like he wanted to pat him or give him a hug, but he couldn’t because of the bag in his hands.

Harry smiled at Papyrus. “Thanks, Papyrus.”

“YOU ARE MOST WELCOME, YOUNG BROTHER! IT IS WHAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS MEANT TO DO! NYEH!” Papyrus beamed. Then he looked sheepish. “UHH… THOUGH, COULD YOU GET THE DOOR? THE GREAT PAPYRUS’ HANDS ARE KIND OF FULL RIGHT NOW.”

Harry laughed. “Sure, Papyrus.” He opened the door for Papyrus, and they strode into the warm house, Harry closing the door after them.

Papyrus brought their spoils into the kitchen, and Harry trailed along behind him, wondering if he could avoid being splattered by tomatoes today. Hopefully so, as long as Papyrus would wait for instructions.

“OK, so you want to learn how to make spaghetti the human way?” Harry asked.

“OH YES, YOUNG HARRY! IT WOULD BE GREAT TO SHOW UNDYNE IN OUR UPCOMING TRAINING SESSION!!” Papyrus seemed pleased.

Harry paused. “Who’s Undyne?”

“UNDYNE IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! OF WHICH I AM CERTAIN TO BECOME A PART OF BECAUSE I AM GETTING EXTRA-SPECIAL TRAINING FROM HER! IT IS MY UTMOST DREAM TO BECOME A PART OF THE ROYAL GUARD!” Papyrus exclaimed.

“Oh. Well, uh, congrats, then?” Harry questioned, uncertain whether it was a good thing. “But what does making spaghetti have to do with Undyne?”

“OUR LAST SESSION WAS HER TEACHING ME TO MAKE SPAGHETTI! FROM METTATON’S COOKING SHOW! AND LOT’S OF PASSION!” Papyrus said. 

Harry blinked. “So… Undyne was the one to teach you how to cook spaghetti that way?” he asked.

“YES!”

“I… see. Well. This is the human way,” he reminded Papyrus, going over to the sink with the pot, only to realize it was too tall for him to reach the faucet. “Uh… can you fill this with water about halfway?”

“SURE THING, YOUNG HARRY!” Papyrus leapt into action, grabbing the pot and leaning over Harry, filling the pot with water before handing it down to him, and letting him take over once more.

“Ok, so the first thing you do is set the water to boil on the stove. Then we can move onto the sauce.”

“OH BOY! MY FAVORITE PART!” Papyrus burst out. “THIS IS THE PART WITH THE PASSION!”

“No no no!” Harry burst out. “Human way, remember!”

“AWWW… I LIKE SMASHING THE TOMATOES…” Papyrus looked down.

“We can cut them up, but we need them for the sauce, Papyrus,” Harry reminded him. 

“OKEE DOKEY!” Papyrus perked back up.

Harry took the tomatoes and onions out of the bag, and set the knives on the counter, and set about cutting up the vegetables. Then he took out the cans of tomato paste and looked around for a can opener. “Uh, do you have a can opener anywhere in this kitchen?”

“YEAH, IT’S IN THE DRAWER NEAR THE SINK!” Papyrus said, not looking up from cutting the tomatoes.

Harry crossed the kitchenette to the sink, where there was literally six drawers lining the cupboard near the sink. Harry paused to give the back of Papyrus’ head a droll stare, before pulling open a drawer and yelping as a small white dog jumped out at him with a can opener in its mouth.

“Uhhh, why’s a small white dog in your drawer, and why does it have your can opener in its mouth?”

“NYEH? CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE! IT’S BEEN PLAGUING ME EVER SINCE WE MOVED INTO THIS HOUSE! STEALING MY BONE ATTACKS AND OTHER VARIOUS ITEMS FOR ITS AMUSEMENT AND NOW IT HAS STOLEN THE CAN OPENER WE NEED FOR OUR SPAGHETTI! GET BACK HERE, THIEF!” Papyrus yelled, shaking a fist at the dog and and starting to chase it around the room.

Harry couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous scene: the tall skeleton chasing the tiny white puppy with the can opener in its mouth. He could have sworn the puppy winked at him as it passed.

“Come on, pup, we need that can opener,” he eventually said between laughs. “Can you please hand it over?”

And the can opener was deposited at his feet. Papyrus skidded to a halt. “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!” 

“I just asked for it nicely,” Harry said innocently.

“OH.” Papyrus seemed defeated.

“There, there, Pap, I’m sure you’ll have your chance to get the pup, later,” Harry said, patting Papyrus’ arm. “Let’s get back to the spaghetti, shall we? The water should be boiling now.”

“YES, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, YOUNG HARRY!”

“OK, so now, we put the noodles in. Open the box and put the noodles in like this,” Harry showed Papyrus how to snap the noodles in half so they would fit in the pot easier. “This way they fit in the pot, see? And stir them so they don’t stick, but don’t splash the water around, or you might get burnt.”

“I AM BURN-PROOF, YOUNG HARRY! BUT THANK YOU FOR BEING SO CONCERNED FOR MY WELL-BEING!” Papyrus said.

Harry somehow doubted that Papyrus was burn- _ proof _ , but figured that his bones  _ were _ more durable than his skin, so put aside the matter for now.

“OK, so we let the noodles boil for several minutes, let them get soft. Meanwhile, let’s check on the sauce,” Harry said, moving back to the tomato sauce. He stirred it, smelling it. “Hmmm… Needs more garlic.” He said thoughtfully, crushing some cloves and stirring them into the pot. 

After a few moments, he lifted a noodle out of the other pot to try, chewing on it thoughtfully. “Alright, it’s ready. We have to strain it out. Do you have a collander?”

“YES I DO!”  Papyrus said excitedly, bringing out a strainer for them to use. He put it in the sink and strained out the water from the spaghetti noodles. Then he put the noodles back in the pot.

“Now, just to add the sauce to the noodles, and we’re done!” Harry said. They poured the pot of sauce into the noodles, and ladled some portions onto two plates, and it was ready to eat.

They walked over to the table, and sat down, Papyrus practically vibrating with energy. “OH BOY! IT SMELLS SO GOOD, BROTHER HARRY! I CAN’T WAIT TO TRY IT!”

“Well, go ahead,” Harry laughed, taking a bite himself. It was much better than the crunchy mess that Papyrus had made yesterday.

Papyrus took a huge bite of the spaghetti, and chewed it thoughtfully. “THIS IS REALLY GOOD, BROTHER HARRY!” He said delightfully, taking another bite happily.

Harry beamed, glad that Papyrus liked it. “I’m glad you like it, Papyrus. Just remember, this is the  _ human _ way to make spaghetti.” he stressed. He wasn’t sure why Sans wanted him to do this, but it had seemed important to the guy, and he sure owed the shorter skeleton a few favors. So, making sure Papyrus knew how to make spaghetti was a small price to pay for all that Sans had done for him.


	18. Doctor's Appointment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Been awhile, hasn't it? Well, wait no longer, the next chapter is finally here! I want to note, the MASTR and SASS are not my invention, I read about them in another Undertale fanfiction, called: "One Day [He]..." Strange name, I know, but it's a great Dadsby (Grillby!Dad) fanfiction, though it was unfortunately never finished. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!

Sans trudged through the snow, King Asgore stomping after him. After the disastrous meeting in King Asgore’s throne room, Asgore had summoned Dr. Alphys to him, and the nervous scientist had shown up, wringing her hands, quite the nervous wreck. But after explaining the situation to her, she had agreed to give Harry a magical check-up. They would travel to Hotland to Dr. Alphys’ lab to do the check-up. But first, they had to pick up Harry and Papyrus from Snowdin.

Asgore was coming along because he was interested in knowing what Dr. Alphys would find in regards to Harry’s health. Or so Sans thought, Asgore hadn’t been very clear. Sans figured Asgore was just being a father, interested in his “son’s” health. Especially since his son was worried about himself and his emotions the way he was.

Sans hesitated as the house came into view. He dug his key out of his jacket pocket and turned the key in the lock, and strode into the house, wondering what Papyrus and Harry were doing this morning. He walked in on Papyrus and Harry sitting on the couch, watching a rerun of Mettaton’s TV show.

“GOOD AFTERNOON, SANS,” Papyrus greeted him. “OH, HELLO, YOUR MAJESTY!”

“Hey, Sans,” the kid said, and his face lit up as he saw King Asgore enter the room after him. “Hey, uh, ‘Dad.’” He said, shyly.

Asgore smiled and walked across the room to engulf the kiddo in a huge hug, which the kid returned happily. Sans chuckled.

“wellp, kid. We got you set up to see a doctor like you and I talked about, if you’re up for it,” Sans said. “her name is Dr. Alphys, and she’s ready to see you whenever in her lab in Hotland. we figured we’d trek out there sometime today, if you’re up for it”

Harry nodded his head. “I’m up for it!” He said, looking up at Asgore. “I want to go. Whenever you’re ready.”

Sans nodded. “alright. King Fluffybuns, Papyrus, you coming?”

“REALLY, SANS, YOU SHOULD BE MORE RESPECTFUL OF HIS MAJESTY!” Papyrus shrieked. Sans gave Harry a wink behind Papyrus’ back, sending the kid into more chuckles.

“It’s alright, Papyrus,” King Asgore rumbled. “I’m used to it. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with some harmless ribbing between friends, is there?”

“heh,  _ icy _ what you did there, your majesty,” Sans chuckled, winking at Harry again as they tromped out into the snow.

“SANS! WAS THAT ANOTHER PUN?!” Papyrus asked, raising his mittened hands to the sky.

“maybe”

“HOW COULD YOU POISON YOUNG BROTHER HARRY’S MIND WITH PUNS?!” Papyrus wailed.

“i wouldn’t call it poisoning, i’d call it ‘enriching’,” Sans replied.

They had made it past the snowy landscape and were in Waterfall, in the wet, slimy caves that were lit with the glowing crystals that lined the cave walls. Harry was looking all around, taking in the sights; it made sense ,  it was all new to the kid, after all.

“WHATEVER, SANS! I STILL SAY YOUR HORRIBLE PUN HABIT HAS GOT TO STOP!” Papyrus said disapprovingly.

“we have this conversation at least once a week,” Sans confided to Harry, who nodded seriously.

“don’t you think you should give it up by now, Pap?” he asked his bro.

“I WILL NEVER GIVE IT UP, SANS!” Papyrus said. “IT’S A HORRIBLE HABIT, BESIDES.”

“says you”

“YES, SAYS ME.” Papyrus replied primly.

“So… uh, what makes the crystals glow like that?” Harry interrupted them, looking between them awkwardly. Sans smirked at Harry, guessing that the kid was interrupting them on purpose.

“not really sure,  _ tibia _ honest, kiddo,” he said, winking at Harry, who glared as Papyrus shrieked indignantly at the pun.

“HONESTLY, SANS! MUST YOU ANSWER EVERY QUESTION WITH ONE OF THOSE TERRIBLE PUNS?!”

“I think he can’t help himself, Papyrus,” Harry said diplomatically.

“he’s got me all figured out, Paps,” Sans shrugged.

“UGH. PERHAPS I AM BEING TOO HARSH.” Papyrus admitted. “BUT REALLY, SANS, IF YOU WOULD JUST  _ APPLY YOURSELF _ …”

“eh, sounds like too much work,” Sans yawned.

“SAAAANS! REALLY, YOU LAZYBONES!” Papyrus complained.

“that’s me,” Sans winked at Harry, who giggled, covering his mouth with his hands.

They had reached the wishing room, and Sans paused by one of the echo flowers, beckoning Harry over to it. He pointed up at the glowing crystals on the ceiling. “we monsters come here to wish on the ‘stars’ on the ceiling of the cave here” he explained to Harry. “the echo flowers repeat everything they hear”

“The echo flowers repeat everything they hear” the flower repeated.

“why don’t you make a wish?” Sans suggested, giving Harry another wink.

Harry looked at him, then at Asgore and Papyrus, before leaning down and talking into the echo flower. “I wish… that the Barrier between the human world and the Underground could be broken…”

Asgore’s face crumpled, sorrow overtaking him. Sans watched the kid carefully. “Don’t we all, bud. Don’t we all”

Harry looked down. “Am I going to be stuck here for the rest of my life?” he asked quietly.

Sans eternal grin fell a little. “gee, kid. i... don’t know what to tell ya…” He told the kid honestly. “you might be able to get through the Barrier with your Soul, we just don’t know how it works.”

“I don’t want to leave you guys stuck down here though!” Harry protested. “Even if I can leave, I wouldn’t leave without you all with me.”

Sans felt touched by this declaration, and he laid a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “this isn’t your problem to figure out, kid. let the grown-ups handle it”

Harry looked like he was sucker-punched when Sans said that. “I… I’ve never had someone tell me that before,” he admitted. “Let the grown-ups handle something, I mean. It’s always had to be me and my friends that had to handle everything.”

“well, that’s not how it is, now,” Sans assured him. “seriously. we’ll figure something out. solutions have a way of working themselves out sometimes” Though, with the king planning on setting the souls of the humans free, Sans wasn’t sure what solution would present itself. But he was sure some solution  _ would _ present itself, in time. Either way, it wasn’t for Harry to worry himself over.

They had kept walking, and now were reaching Hotland. “we’re almost there” Sans said to Harry, who nodded.

“The Underground isn’t a very big place, is it?” He asked, sadly.

Sans shook his head. “no, it isn’t” There wasn’t much to say to that. It all fit under one mountain, after all.

They approached the bridge over lava that separated the end of Waterfall and the beginning of Hotland. Harry looked over the edge nervously at the lava. “At least this bridge has handholds…” he said.

“we’ll see about getting handholds put on the bridge near Snowdin,” Sans assured Harry. “though with your wings, really, you could fly over these things, you know”

“We don’t know that! Who knows if I could really hold myself up with them?!” Harry replied.

“only one way to find out,” Sans winked at the kid.

“Well, I’m not trying over lava!” Harry exclaimed.

“of course not,” Sans rolled his eyes.

They crossed the bridge, and passed the water cooler, and a few denizens of Hotland, out for a stroll. They waved at Sans and the King as they passed.

Soon, they came to the laboratory doors. Sans knocked at the door as their group came to a stop outside the doors.

There was a pause, and then the doors slid open, spilling fluorescent lighting onto the ground from inside the lab. “C-come i-in,” Dr. Alphys called from within the building.

Sans stepped into the familiar messy lab. Half-eaten bowls of ramen lay scattered around the lab, and a bag of chisps lay on the table nearby. “O-oh, d-dear… I-I wasn’t quite prepared f-for you to c-come so s-soon. J-just a s-second,” the stammering voice of Dr. Alphys said, as the lizard emerged from the shadows, scurrying around, picking up the ramen and the chisps in a whirlwind of movement, throwing them away in a trash bag she clutched in her other hand.

The lizard monster was wearing her typical lab coat, and her spectacles were askew on her snout, as she busied herself about the lab, throwing away bits of trash and straightening up as she saw fit. Sans watched with an easy smile, knowing it was typical of the scatterbrained scientist.

Harry didn’t seem to know what to think of the lizard monster, as he watched her with a concerned look in his eye, as if to ask himself what kind of person she was. “H-huff… h-okay… uhhh.. T-that should be e-everything…” Alphys said after a moment of looking around. “O-okay… ummmm. I-I’m D-Dr. Alphys,” She said, looking at Harry, holding out her clawed hand for a handshake.

Harry took her hand in his and shook it gently. “I’m Harry,” he said.

“OK, H-harry… Uhhh, h-have y-you ever had a-an examination b-by a d-doctor before?” Dr. Alphys asked.

“Um, not like this,” Harry said awkwardly. “Just like for vaccinations for school, and when I’ve gotten hurt at Hogwarts, but not like a full examination I don’t think.”

Dr. Alphys looked up at the King, who was looking at Sans meaningfully. Sans had figured this might be the case, though it was nice to get confirmation.

“W-well, t-there’s no n-need to w-worry about a-anything, Harry,” Dr. Alphys stammered. “This i-is all s-standard stuff. I-I’ll need to t-take some x-rays, and I-I’ll have to take b-blood samples, as well as t-take m-measurements o-of your magic readings: your MASTR and SASS, for one.”

“What’s a MASTR? Or a SASS?” Harry asked curiously.

“O-oh! W-well, MASTR s-stands for Magic Analysis a-and Soul Type Reading, and SASS s-stands f-for Sustained Attack a-and Stability Score,” Dr. Alphys explained.

“So they’re things that everyone has?” Harry asked.

“Oh, y-yes, m-most definitely,” Dr. Alphys said, nodding.

“Why didn’t Hogwarts do it then?”

“W-well.. I-I d-doubt h-humans k-know much about soul types, f-from what w-we know o-of human culture nowadays…” Dr. Alphys explained awkwardly.

“Even wizards?” Harry asked.

“W-well…” Dr. Alphys seemed lost.

“Who knows, squirt?” Sans interrupted smoothly. “Maybe they just didn’t have a reason to check your Soul before now”

“Maybe.” Harry didn’t seem happy with that answer, but he settled down to let Alphys check his blood pressure.

“Y-you’ll f-feel a tight squeeze, OK, H-harry?”

“Alright.”

The rest of the appointment passed like a breeze... Until Dr. Alphys asked Harry to remove his clothes for the x-ray.

“Do I have to?”

“Y-yes, H-harry, y-you need thinner clothing t-to get through t-the x-ray.”

“I… I don’t feel comfortable doing this…”

Sans intervened. “We can all leave the room, if that’s what’s wrong, Harry,” he said, giving the small boy a  _ look. _

The boy gave him a grateful smile. “Yes, please.”

They all filed out of the room, and gave the boy his privacy while he dressed in a thin gown. “Alright, Dr. Alphys can come back in!” He called.

Dr. Alphys gave them a trembling smile, and went into the room. A startled gasp echoed from the room. “A-are… a-are y-you OK?!”

“...I’m fine, Dr. Alphys. Please, can we just do the x-ray?” Harry’s voice was tiny, ashamed.

“O-of c-course.” Dr. Alphys sounded sad, and Sans exchanged a look with the King.

He could only imagine what Dr. Alphys was seeing on Harry’s body. From what he’d guessed, and what he had seen on Harry’s back while he had been without a shirt -scars and bruises- he could only imagine that it was more of the same. Sans wondered what Alphys would find on the x-rays.

After twenty or so minutes had passed, Dr. Alphys came out of the room again. “I-it w-will take some t-time for the photos to clear, a-and t-then I’ll examine them.” she said. “H-he’s a-a brave b-boy,” she said quietly.

“I’m ready!” Harry called them back in. They all filed into the room again.

Dr. Alphys brought out a new machine. “A-alright, H-harry. This machine w-will take y-your MASTR, b-but it s-shouldn’t hurt o-or anything.” The machine whirred as she moved it along Harry’s body.

The machine beeped and then flashed something on its screen. “A-alright. M-magic levels s-seem to be w-within range of an a-adolescent monster, if a l-little on the low side. S-soul Type: Integrity, subtype, Justice.” Dr. Alphys read off. Then she paused, her brows furrowing.

“What does Soul Type mean?” Harry asked.

“W-well, y-your S-soul is the culmination of your e-entire being. Y-your S-soul T-type is just w-what trait b-best suits you. T-there are s-seven major types of s-souls. Bravery, Justice, Integrity, Patience, Kindness, Perseverance, and Determination.” Alphys listed off, counting on her fingers.

“So, I have a…” Harry trailed off, looking at Alphys.

“Integrity Soul, with a Justice subtyping. That means that your Soul is dark blue, well, would have been dark blue when it was fully human . now  it’s dark blue and white.” Sans said.

Alphys nodded. “I-I’ve n-never seen a m-monster h-hybrid b-before but y-your Soul l-looks healthy t-to me, Harry,” she said reassuringly. “It’s just… uh. There’s something else here.”

Sans frowned. “what is it, Alphys…?”

Alphys frowned to match Sans’ expression. “W-well… There’s… two more sets of data here… It’s very faint, but there’s one reading that measures as Determination, subtype… y-yikes. Uh, subtype is Cruelty…”

“Cruelty?” Harry looked faint. “But you said…”

“W-well… It’s r-rare, but sometimes Souls r-reverse one typing… This part… it reversed Kindness… It’s odd…” Alphys said. “B-but there’s more! E-even fainter, there’s a Kindness reading, subtype Patience. I-it’s weird. I’ve never s-seen such a thing before… I-it’s almost like… well. As if there’s t-two more Souls, or  _ parts _ of Souls, i-inside Harry’s.”

Harry looked like he’d been punched. “So… I’m abnormal then…” he mumbled.

Sans put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “there’s nothing wrong with you, kiddo”

“YEAH! DON’T FORGET THAT I THINK YOU’RE AWESOME, KID BROTHER HARRY! AND IF THE GREAT PAPYRUS THINKS YOU’RE GREAT, IT MUST BE TRUE!” Papyrus said happily.

Alphys nodded vigorously. “Y-yes… j-just because we’ve n-never seen something l-like this before… i-it doesn’t mean something’s  _ wrong _ . It’s j-just unexpected.”

She pulled out another device. “T-this o-one measures your SASS. Y-you r-remember what that s-stands for?”

“You said, uh, Sustained Attack and Stability Score, right?” Harry said.

“R-right. In t-tandem with t-the M-magic Levels from t-the MASTR, it s-should tell me how p-powerful you a-are.” Dr. Alphys said. She ran the device across Harry’s chest as it whirred and beeped.

Then it flashed like the other device. She pushed up her glasses and read the score, and frowned. “T-this c-can’t be r-right.” she muttered.

“What’s wrong, Dr. Alphys?” Harry asked.

“W-well, y-your SASS shouldn’t b-be this h-high with y-your magic levels t-that low. I’m gonna try a-another reading. S-stay p-perfectly s-still, Harry.”

She tried the reading again, but as the thing beeped and flashed again, Alphys shook her head and muttered. Then she took off her glasses, wiping them on her lab coat and replacing them on her face. “T-there i-is one e-explanation….” she said hesitantly. “B-but… i-it’s a-a l-little f-farfetched…”

“What is it?” Harry asked.

“Y-you s-said y-you wanted someone t-to l-look a-at you b-because y-you felt y-you were acting funny, right?” Dr. Alphys asked. “W-well… M-magic b-blocks s-sometimes have side effects if t-they are l-left to their own d-devices for too long… W-we can check you for a m-magic b-block if you w-want?”

“But… where would I get a magic block? Why would anyone put one on me?” Harry asked.

“Sometimes humans put them on their children when  they’re  babies so they don’t hurt themselves with an accidental outburst when they are too young to control it. Your parents could have put one on you and it might have never been removed because no one knew you had it on you in the first place,” Sans suggested.

Or someone wanted Harry to be weak on purpose, but Sans didn’t mention that. He didn’t think that would go over well with the teen.

“What about the supposed other Souls that are in my Soul? Could that explain it?” Harry asked.

“N-not that much… B-besides, the SASS monitor should only pick up magical energy, not Soul energy. I-it’s unlikely that the Souls w-would be giving you any m-magical energy.” Alphys said.

“...Alright. Then, how do we tell if I have a magical block?” Harry asked, resigned.

“T-there’s a s-spell t-that will tell us.” Alphys said. “A-all I-I have to do i-is s-scan your b-body with m-my hands. Y-you’ll h-have to be lying d-down for that.

Harry lay down on the sofa indicated -only Alphys would have a sofa in her laboratory!- and Alphys muttered something under her breath, her hands lighting up with a soft yellow glow. She held them over Harry’s head, and then ran her hands down the length of his body.

As she got to his neck, her hands lit up red. Alphys muttered something under her breath, then continued to run her hands over Harry’s body. When she got to his chest area, her hands lit up green. The rest of her scan, her hands stayed yellow. “O-ok… so y-you d-do have two magic b-bonds. O-one was o-older than the o-other, I’d say a-about f-fifteen years o-old. T-the s-second is y-younger, maybe f-five years ago?” Dr. Alphys said.

“Why do I have the second one?!” Harry burst out, angrily. “Five years ago, that would be when I was starting at Hogwarts! Who would cripple me like that?”

“Who knows? The important part is that we will remove the magic blocks now. Nothing is a greater injustice than not allowing a young monster or wizard access to their magic” Sans said, getting nods from the King, Alphys, and Papyrus.

“W-we’ll h-have t-to exercise c-caution when r-releasing h-his magic… I-it’s been pent up a-all these y-years… t-the first thing it m-might t-try to do i-is exercise itself,” Alphys warned.

“Perhaps a magical shield is in order, then,” the King spoke up.

Alphys nodded at the King. “G-good idea.”

“So, how do we do this?” Harry asked.

“W-well, f-first we’ll d-draw out your m-magic so w-we can identify w-where the b-blocks a-are located… T-then we’ll u-unseal the blocks, r-releasing your m-magic. I-it’s a-actually quite s-simple,” Alphys explained.

Harry seemed to steel himself, taking in a deep breath, and letting it out. “OK, let’s do this.”

Dr. Alphys gestured for him to lay back down on the sofa. The King held out his hand, and a yellow barrier shimmered around Harry and Alphys.

Alphys stretched out a single hand, and Harry’s Soul was summoned, along with a colorful mist that surrounded his Soul. Alphys frowned in concentration, running her hand through the mist.

Sans watched, interested, as she grabbed a color -a deep blood red- from the rainbow, and held it still, before flicking her hand, and extracting it from the rest of the colors. It dissipated once separate from the mist, and she moved on, reaching for something else. She repeated the process several times, with different colors. Eventually, she reached the last one -a bright yellow-green strand, and as it dissipated, the lab trembled, like an earthquake. Then a bunch of lights sped out of Harry’s Soul. They struck the King’s yellow barrier and a bunch of loud popping sounds echoed through the lab.

Alphys backed away, looking exhausted. “T-that should b-be it… y-you c-can lower the b-barrier now, y-your Majesty,” she added to the King. Asgore lowered his hand, and the barrier shimmered before disappearing.

Harry looked tired, too, as his Soul sunk into his chest, the colorful mist disappearing as well.

“How do you feel, kiddo?” Sans asked.

“I feel… full… like, I’m a cup that’s overflowing,” Harry replied.

“I-it’ll t-take a-awhile to g-get used to,” Alphys said. “Y-you’ll h-have to practice y-your m-magic now; y-you’ll have t-to get used to u-using l-less m-magic to p-power your s-spells.” She paused, thinking. “U-uh, i-if you f-feel up to it, I-I’d like t-to redo your MASTR and SASS… n-now that y-your magic i-is unsealed.”

“Sure,” Harry shrugged.

Alphys took out her devices again, and scanned Harry once more. “M-magic levels… oh, w-wow… S-sorcerer-level magic. I-it matches y-your p-previous SASS stats… T-the other s-soul readings s-seem to be s-stronger, too. It’s… uh, w-weird. I-it’s like y-you have t-two partial S-Souls sticking to y-your S-Soul. B-but… humans c-can’t absorb o-other h-human Souls…”

“Well, Harry’s a hybrid, so maybe that explains it?” Sans suggested.

“R-right… m-maybe… i-it’s just… that… t-that Determination S-Soul… i-it… it scares me… I-I mean… subtype C-Cruelty? T-that’s… awful.”

Harry had a strange look on his face. He looked like he knew something of the Soul, but it wasn’t something he was liking very much.

“W-when… humans die… what happens to their Souls?” he asked slowly.

“Well, they stick around for awhile… that’s why Monsters can absorb them,” Sans answered carefully, wondering what was going through the kid’s head.

“I… I think… I know where the Cruelty Soul came from,” Harry said, looking disgusted. “When I was a baby… this evil wizard tried to kill me… but for some reason, his spell rebounded on him… I think I have… part of his Soul in me… B-but… He isn’t dead… He came back from the dead; a little over a year ago…” he added, his eyes haunted.

Sans looked over at the King, who had closed his eyes and was breathing heavily, in sorrow or anger, he wasn’t sure which. A moment passed before Asgore opened his eyes.

“I believe I know why this… evil wizard, survived. It is the blackest of magics. Killing others… it cracks the Soul… to those who leave it at that; the cracks mend and your Soul gets stronger… but to those who exploit the cracking of the Soul… use magic to take part of the Soul from one’s body and store it in an object… it makes you semi-immortal… You can’t fully die when a part of your Soul is anchored in an object like this,” Asgore said grimly.

“So… Voldemort had one of these… objects?” Harry stated. “And it allowed him to come back from death?”

“Yes... and part of his soul also is in you, if your theory is correct.” Asgore replied.

“So I’M keeping him alive?” Harry asked, horrified.

“not for long,” Sans said. “we can remove it, can’t we?” he looked over at Alphys. “can’t your Soul Extractor remove the foreign Soul?”

“First of all, it’s a Determination Extractor!” Alphys replied in frustration. “It doesn’t extract Souls, at all!”

“well, can you modify it to separate Souls?” Sans asked, annoyance coloring his tone.

“I don’t know how to do that!” Alphys protested. Sans noted that her stuttering disappeared when she was upset, oddly enough.

“well, certainly, with the both of us, we can do it…” Sans muttered.

Alphys stared at him uncertainly. “A-are you s-sure?” She asked, stutter returning. “I, uh… I t-thought you d-didn’t like me?”

Sans sighed. “it’s not that,” he said, before turning to Harry. “we can do this, Harry. we’ll get those Souls out of you”

“T-the other Soul, though… I… I think it’s my mom’s…” Harry mumbled.

Sans looked at Harry’s face: it was withdrawn, sorrowful. “...then… i’m sure we can isolate the wrong Soul… and leave the other…” Sans said. It would take more work, but… it was worth it to see Harry’s face light up.

“Uh… t-the x-rays s-should be r-ready to r-read now,” Alphys spoke up after a moment.

Sans saw a grimace cross Harry’s face at the mention of the x-rays, and a chill went through him. What would the x-rays say about the kid’s condition?

Alphys put the x-rays up against a light, and began examining them. Sans eyed the x-rays cautiously, fearing what they would find.

Alphys was tracing the bones in Harry’s left wrist with a claw, and Sans peered closer, wondering what she was seeing. Then it became clear: the bones in his wrist were slightly out of place; as if his wrist had been broken in the past and healed the wrong way.

“how much motion do you have in your left wrist, Harry?” Sans asked slowly.

Harry turned red under his eyes. The kid’s eyes fell to the floor, and he shrugged. “I can use it just fine,” he mumbled.

“that’s not what i asked,” Sans’ voice was hard, and Harry winced. Sans immediately felt bad. “kid... i’m not mad  _ at _ you, but  _ for _ you”

King Asgore laid a heavy hand on Harry’s shoulders. “It’s alright, son,” he said quietly.

Harry looked up at Asgore, then took a deep breath in and let it out. “U-uncle Vernon d-did something to my wrist when I was five,” he began. “All I remember is… he grabbed me by the wrist and there was a cracking sound… He t-threw me i-in my cupbo- room,” he stumbled over the words, and Sans felt his eyelights flicker out. “It hurt for like a week, then the pain stopped; but I couldn’t move it like I could before… I guess I just learned to live with it,” he shrugged, and Sans felt cold rage wash over him at the boy’s nonchalance about his broken wrist. Like it was something to be expected!

“what were you going to say instead of ‘room’?” he asked, voice flat.

Harry hunched down, curling in on himself. “I… I l-lived i-in the c-cupboard under the s-stairs until m-my eleventh birthday,” he admitted. Alphys squeaked in horror. Sans could feel his good eye flaring up angrily, and he closed his eyes, not wanting to frighten Harry.

Papyrus laid a hand on Sans’ shoulder, and he used the feeling of his brother’s mittened hand to ground himself. He took in a few deep breaths, trying to cool the rage inside himself.

King Asgore had to lift his hand from Harry’s shoulder, his fists curling up automatically.

“You will  _ never _ go back there.” Asgore’s tone brooked no argument -not that any one of them would argue against such a thing.

Sans looked up at Alphys. “Alphys, is there anything else?” he asked, almost dreading the answer.

Alphys, who had looked up at her name, grimaced. “U-unfortunately, y-yes,” she said. “I-it seems at l-least o-one of H-harry’s ribs have been broken in the p-past. H-have y-you experienced a-a tightness i-in your chest, H-harry?” she directed the question to the kid.

“Uh… I can’t breathe in all the way… haven’t been able to since second year,” Harry admitted. “The… the basilisk struck me across the chest.”

Sans’ breath died in his throat, and it took a moment before he was able to breathe again. “b-basilisk?!” he demanded.

Harry looked chagrined, before explaining, in halting words, about his second year at Hogwarts, and the events that led up to his fight with the basilisk.

“for the love of magic…” Sans grunted out. “is there anything else we should know?” he asked in frustration.

“Well…” Harry blushed, and went on to tell them about each of his years at Hogwarts, the stories getting worse and worse. When he told them of the ritual that led to the Dark Lord Voldemort rising, Sans couldn’t help but let out a stream of curses.

“this...  _ Voldemort _ guy,” Sans spat out, “took your blood?” he clarified.

“Y-yeah. He said that using my blood would allow him to get past my mother’s protective spell… and he could touch me without burning, unlike in first year,” Harry said.

King Asgore growled lowly. “He is a fool, this… Voldemort… Blood Magic is the most complicated of the Ancient Arts. Added to the Soul Magic he seems to have been messing with… he tied your lives together.”

Harry frowned. “What do you mean?” he asked.

Asgore scowled. “Well, with the Soul Anchor that currently exists in you, and your blood running in his new body, he tied your lives together. In essence; neither of you can die, so long as the other is alive.”

“But… I was already keeping him alive with the Soul Anchor, wasn’t I?” Harry said. “So basically, he just made it impossible for me to die, too?”

Asgore gave a single nod, still scowling. “But once we remove the Soul Anchor, the protections shall dissolve -for both of you.” he said.

“Well, that’s good, right?” Harry said uncertainly. “That way, Voldemort can properly die. That is, if someone can kill him…”

“BUT!” Papyrus spoke up then. “DOES THE VOLDY-GUY NEED TO DIE? SURELY WE CAN CONVINCE HIM TO STOP BEING SO BAD!”

Harry looked sucker-punched, and he lifted his eyes to Papyrus. “He killed my parents! He killed Cedric! His follower killed my Godfather! He’s killed tons of people!” he hissed angrily, green eyes sparkling with unshed tears.

“I UNDERSTAND THAT HE’S BEEN VERY BAD…. BUT, I’M SURE… EVEN THE WORST PERSON CAN CHANGE. WE DON’T NEED TO KILL HIM!” Papyrus insisted. “HE JUST NEEDS TO BE SHOWN THAT HE CAN DO BETTER!”

Harry shook his head. “Voldemort will never change,” he said. “He’d kill anyone who even tried to change him!”

Sans grabbed Papyrus’ mittened hand and gave it a squeeze. “bro… you know that not everyone can be saved,” he said quietly.

Papyrus made a frustrated sound, and looked away, jaw clenching.

King Asgore watched with a sad look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, dear Papyrus. Some people are beyond saving.”

Papyrus looked like he wanted to argue again, but Sans squeeze his hand again, causing his brother to look away, frustrated tears brimming in his eyes.

Sans felt bad for his brother, but couldn’t find the words to reassure him. What could he say? This evil wizard  _ needed _ to die, and there was no way he could convince Papyrus that that was ok.

“If that is all, Dr. Alphys, I believe my son and I have some business to attend to. Sans, Dr. Alphys, please start on the Soul Extractor as soon as possible. Papyrus, I will return Harry to your house once we are done with our business. All of you, be prepared for the coming days. There is a great change coming to the Underground,” Asgore stated.

Sans nodded at the king as he swept out of the room, arm around Harry’s shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wellp that was interesting. I wonder what business Asgore has with Harry? Oh wait, I ALREADY KNOW! But you'll have to wait for next chapter to find out! Muahahahahahaha!


	19. Harry's Woes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone had a good holiday season! Let's all hope 2018 is better than 2017!

Harry followed Asgore out of the laboratory and into the heat of Hotland. “You... wanted to talk to me?” Harry said after several minutes of silence.  
  
Asgore sighed, sounding weary as all get-out. “Yes, my son.” He looked down at Harry, sorrow on his face.  
  
He was silent for another moment, before finally speaking: “First of all, I want you to know- you... you don’t have to be ashamed, son. What -what happened to you... it wasn’t normal, and most of all, it wasn’t right.” He laid a heavy paw on Harry’s shoulder.  
  
Harry stared up at Asgore’s bearded face, his cheeks reddening. He hated the lump that grew in the back of his throat. His face was hot, and there was a pressure growing in the back of his head. He could hear his heartbeat rushing in his ears. Tears welled at the corners of his eyes.  
  
“I... I just-” Harry stopped, choking on his words as the lump in his throat swelled. He closed his eyes, tears slipping down his cheeks.  
  
“You are not a freak, Harry,” Asgore said forcefully. “What was done to you was wrong. You are a wonderful boy... intelligent, brave, and most of all, important.”  
  
Asgore laid his hands on Harry’s shoulder, and pulled him in for a hug. Harry collapsed in Asgore’s hold, hugging the goat monster with all his might.  
  
“I don’t understand... why?” Harry mumbled into Asgore’s chest.  
  
“W-why?” Asgore spluttered. “Because it’s all true, Harry! I-”  
  
“N-not that,” Harry choked out. “Why did they- I... I must have... done something-?”  
  
“Harry, no.” Asgore interrupted him. “This is not your fault, Harry. They are the ones at fault, not you, son. Humans... well. They say that Souls are made of love, hope, and compassion... but humans... humans have proven their Souls can exist without these things. That’s not to say all humans are bad... but... some are. And the humans that raised you... they’re clearly some of the bad ones.”  
  
“Humans hate anything different from them!” Harry spat. “They hated me because I had magic... the wizards can’t make up their minds about me... hating me one minute and loving me the next; and now I’m some sort of half-monster freak... they’ll hate me for it. It’s not... it’s not fair,” he said the last part quietly.  
  
“Son, listen to me.” Asgore commanded. He put his hand under Harry’s chin and lifted it, looking straight into Harry’s eyes. “Never, ever call yourself a freak again,” he said sternly. “You are a wonder, Harry. You’re special, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  
  
Harry made to interrupt Asgore, but he put a hand up. “I don’t want you to say anything. Just listen. Yes, you are different from most people. But that difference is what makes you, you. You are a special, amazing, intelligent young man. Everything that you’ve gone through; it’s all made you into the person you are today, one that I couldn’t be prouder of.”  
  
Harry’s cheeks reddened, and he couldn’t help the swell of happiness upon hearing those words. No one had ever told him they were proud of him, not even Sirius. He'd always gotten the impression that his godfather never really saw him as, well, himself. He suspected the man saw him as his father, when really, he was nothing like his father, besides looking like his clone. He'd even called Harry, 'James', moments before he'd died.  
  
Harry had loved Sirius, though! He just... felt bad for him. He'd been in Azkaban for twelve years, and he suspected that the extended stay with the dementors had robbed his godfather from some of his sanity, not to mention his imprisonment within his own house after escaping from said prison. He had been robbed the chance to grow up properly. He had been stuck in the past.  
  
There was no doubt that Sirius had loved Harry, he knew, but he simply didn't know how to take care of himself, let alone someone else. Harry was sure that his godfather had been proud of him, but he'd never expressed the sentiment aloud. There was always that nagging doubt in Harry's head.  
  
Asgore brought Harry in for another hug, and Harry accepted it gratefully. He buried his face in Asgore's cloak, the soft fabric nothing like he had ever felt before. He lifted his head and looked up at Asgore, puzzlement on his face.  
  
"What... what is your cloak made of?" He asked, the question popping out of him randomly.  
  
Asgore chuckled a little. "My cloak, much like many of our clothes, is made of spider silk. There is a monster, her name is Muffet, whose family provides the Underground with the majority of our fabric. She is a wonderful monster, if a bit of a gold-pincher."  
  
"There's spider monsters?" Harry asked, having never really thought about the possibility. He liked spiders; they had been his only company when he was stuck in the cupboard under the stairs.  
  
"Indeed. One of many types of monsters. And all of them are my subjects." Asgore said proudly.  
  
"Papyrus mentioned... you're a different kind of monster, right?" Harry asked cautiously.  
  
"Yes. I am what is known as a 'Boss Monster'. Boss Monsters only grow old when we have a child." Asgore explained.  
  
"So... does that mean you'll start aging?" Harry asked in alarm.  
  
"No, no. It must be a biological child," Asgore said hurriedly.  
  
"Oh... good," Harry sighed with relief. Then he looked alarmed. "I didn't mean -I'm not glad your son... I mean-"  
  
Asgore held up a hand. "It's alright, Harry. I knew what you meant. Don't worry; I won't be leaving you any time soon."  
  
Harry nodded, still embarrassed from the faux pas.  
  
Asgore grew serious, then. "Now, I know that you don't like a lot of attention, Harry. However, I believe it would be best to introduce you to our people, as my adopted son, to avoid any mishaps. There are still those among us who remember what a human looks like, and may try to attack you. By introducing you, we will avoid that outcome. Are you OK with this, Harry?"  
  
Harry bit his lip. Asgore was right, he hated attention. He hated his fame as the 'Boy-Who-Lived', and he didn't want the same thing to happen here, where everyone just treated him well because he was important. But, he also understood that Asgore was trying to protect him. "I understand why we need to do this, even though I don't exactly like it," Harry admitted. "But I will do my best to make you proud, D-dad."  
  
Asgore smiled, hugging Harry again. "You will always make me proud, my son." He paused for a moment, thinking. "We should get you to my tailor; we can get you some more clothes, as well as a robe and cloak like mine."  
  
Asgore turned, and beckoned Harry along with him. Harry followed him, taking in the sights around him. Hotland was red and orange, probably from the light of the lava that was exposed everywhere. Asgore led him to a series of elevators, some of which moved laterally, strangely enough. Eventually, they reached a city made of pristinely white-and-grey stones.  
  
The city seemed like any human city, with large buildings made up of a bunch of flats, with businesses on the lowest floor. Monsters of all kinds milled about, barely paying attention to the two. Harry was grateful for this; he wasn't quite ready for the attention.  
  
They eventually reached a small shop, labeled "Magifox's Tailor Services." Asgore ducked into the shop, and Harry followed him in, ears twitching at the bell that went off as they entered.  
  
"I'll be with you in a moment!" A high-pitched, male voice called from the back of the storefront.  
  
Harry looked around, spotting several reams of cloth, each a different color. He also noticed a few mannequins, each looking like a different monster, with appropriate clothing on them.  
  
"How can I hel- Oh! Your Majesty!" the voice from before broke off in mid-sentence, realizing who, exactly, was in his shop. Harry peered around Asgore's bulk to see a fox-headed monster with long, flat legs and arms, with tiny, claw-like fingers sticking from his blocky palms.  
  
"Don't tell me you've ripped another cloak," the monster said humorously.  
  
Asgore chuckled. "Not this time, Magifox. I actually came here for someone else. Harry here needs some clothes, along with a traditional robe and cloak."  
  
Magifox turned his bespeckled gaze onto Harry. "Oho!" He exclaimed upon looking Harry up and down for a moment. Recognition was shining in his eyes. "A hybrid? How... interesting. Well, it's nice to meet you, young Harry." He extended his hand towards Harry.  
  
Harry walked forwards warily, and accepted the clawed hand cautiously. Magifox shook his hand, and then looked at Harry with a speculative look. "I'll have to take some measurements. What kind of clothes would you like, sonny?"  
  
"Uhhh..." Harry hesitated. He'd only ever had robes made for him for school, and before that, he'd always taken Dudley's old cast-offs, so he wasn't sure what to ask for.  
  
Asgore's hand came down on his shoulder. "It's alright, Harry. What kind of colors do you like?"  
  
"I... I like, uh, green," Harry winced, but Asgore didn't react. Harry wanted to face-palm himself. Of course Asgore wouldn't care that green was a Slytherin color! "A-and, blue," he added. He actually didn't really like red and gold; they were too bright for him.  
  
"Three blue polo shirts, and the same with green," Asgore said. "Make sure to add the slits in the back for his wings," he added. "And how about... two black, two khaki, and two blue pairs of slacks. Boxers or briefs, Harry?" the question was so casual that it took Harry a moment before he spluttered.  
  
"Uh... I... uh... b-boxers," Harry said eventually, his face red.  
  
Asgore frowned in confusion at Harry's reaction. Then he turned a little red as he considered his next question. "A-and... what... what kind of s-socks?" He asked.  
  
It was Harry's turn to be confused at Asgore's embarrassment. "Uh... crew-length socks."  
  
"Seven white crew socks," Asgore said, still a little red.  
  
Magifox didn't seem bothered by anything they said, just making notes on a small pad of paper. "Alright. And you said a traditional robe and cloak?"  
  
"Perhaps two sets," Asgore agreed.  
  
"Alright. Harry, if you don't mind standing up on the stool, so I can measure you," Magifox indicated the wooden step-stool a foot away.  
  
Harry stood up on it, and held still as Magifox brought out measurement tape and proceeded to measure him from head-to-toe, including his wingspan.  
  
"Alright. I'll have this done in a week, Your Majesty."  
  
"Thank you, Magifox. Please do keep this quiet, though. We plan to announce everything once the robes are done."  
  
"Of course, Your Majesty."  
  
Asgore and Harry then left the shop. "The announcement should go easily enough, Harry. I'll make a speech, and then you'll emerge. Monsters may have questions for you. Are you comfortable answering?"  
  
Harry fidgeted for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah, that's... fine, I guess."  
  
"Once the announcement is done, you'll be free to mingle among the population at your will," Asgore said. "For now, stick with Papyrus, Sans, or myself, alright?"  
  
"OK, Dad," Harry agreed.  
  
"Alright. Let's get you back to Snowdin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Magifox is my own creation, though his appearance is taken from a deviantart drawing of various Undertale-themed monsters. Next chapter is the big reveal!


	20. The Announcement Ceremony

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Peeps! It's been a while, but here I am with another installment! Finally we get to the Announcement Ceremony! I've been looking forward to this chapter for a long time! Let's see if you can guess why! Two reasons really~ Anyway, without further ado, here's the chapter!

Sans followed the crowd, filing through New Home to the courtyard below Asgore’s castle.

The last week had been difficult for him. He was working harder than he had ever remembered, working with Alphys on changing the Determination Extractor into a Soul Extractor. There was a lot of effort that went into it, and a lot of complicated science and math. They didn’t want the Extractor to take ALL Souls; they wanted it to be able to target a single Soul, or part of one, and extract it without damaging the others.

It was all very complicated, and led to both him and Alphys being exhausted by the end of the day. He’d barely gotten to see Harry at all in the past week, and he’d only seen Papyrus during his nightly bedtime story -he couldn’t miss that.

Next week was Papyrus’ birthday, and he was going to take the day off, regardless of what Alphys thought about it, though he doubted she’d say anything to him.

“Hey PUNK!” Sans looked over to see Undyne striding towards him. “What in the world are you and Alphys doing?! She’s blown me off twice, because she said she was busy with you.”

Sans lifted a brow-bone at Undyne. “not my problem” he  shrugged .

He sidestepped as Undyne swept downward, attempting to lift him up.

“ah-ah-ah” Sans tisked. “did you really think i’d stand there and take it?”

“Arrgh! Just tell me what you’re up to!” Undyne demanded.

“we’re working on something for the king” Sans relented.

“See? Was it really that hard?” Undyne crossed her arms and glared down at him with her good eye.

“it’s more fun to mess with you”

Undyne rolled her eye. “Whatever, loser. So, do you know what this ‘announcement’ of the King’s is?”

Sans eyed her for a moment.  “you already know what he’s going to announce” he said cryptically.

“Is he still going through that damn plan of his to... release the Souls?” She whispered, looking around them warily.

Sans shrugged again. “Probably, but that’s not what he’s announcing. at least, i don’t think so”

Undyne frowned. “Then what...” she trailed off.

Sans raised a brow-bone at her again. “I’ll let you think about it”

“So where’s that kid? Is Asgore letting him wander around without supervision?” Undyne asked, voice hard.

Sans’ looked at her, eyes growing cold at her tone. “don’t start with that, Undyne. you don’t know anything about Harry.”

“Come on, Sans! I thought you hated humans just as much as me! How can you stand there and tell me that this kid won’t betray us?” Undyne demanded.

Sans stared at Undyne, eyes blazing with anger, his fists curled with the desire to punch the lights out of fish woman, but he visibly restrained himself. “i’m not going to have this conversation with you, Undyne.” Sans retorted, voice strained. “Let it go.”

He walked away, looking up at the balcony that overlooked the courtyard, spotting the kid easily.

Harry stood tall and proud, his raven hair spilling around his shoulders, a purple cloak matching that of King Asgore’s fitted precisely to his needs hung around him, his tunic, though no less proper, hidden under the ceremonial cloth. The white Delta Symbol, representing the prophecy, was emblazoned on the chest of his cloak. His fluffy, triangular onyx-colored ears were pricked, likely listening to something the monster next to him was saying. His emerald, catlike eyes were scanning the crowd as if looking for someone. Maybe him, but he wasn’t going to show himself yet.

The most obvious eye-drawer to the kid, though, was the huge wings that Harry had spread out –likely told to keep spread to draw attention- long, large bones lined with silver and white feathers. What better representation of an angel? Harry raised his hands, opening his mouth to talk to the monster next to him, in deep conversation most likely, drawing attention to his bony, skeletal hands.

There was skin over them, but just barely, and against the bright backlight, it was hard to tell there was any skin at all on those hands. Sharp talons jutted from the beds of his nails, though he knew that Harry would be filing them down to nubs as soon as he could find a tool that would do so –even King Asgore’s file hadn’t done the job yet.

"Shiiiit..." Undyne breathed from behind him, having come up to him while he was busy looking at Harry. "That's... the hybrid?" she asked, voice hushed.

"obviously" Sans drawled. Undyne threw him a look of disgust.

"He... he looks like any other monster," she said, hesitance in her voice. "Just with a human face."

"well he is a hybrid" Sans rolled his eyes. "honestly, Undyne, i dont understand what your problem with him is"

"He's a mage!" Undyne hissed. "In case you had forgotten, it was mages who trapped us all here in the first place!"

"you dont know anything about Harry!" Sans snapped. "hes a wonderful kid, and he would never do anything to harm anyone!"

"I'll believe it when I see it," Undyne's voice was still skeptical, and Sans wanted to shake her. She was just so stubborn, it drove him crazy!

Before he could say something else, Asgore's voice rang out from the balcony. "Can I please have everyone's attention?"

Sans turned from Undyne to focus his attention on the balcony, where he could see Harry looking nervous, wringing his hands together beside Asgore.

Asgore looked confident as he stepped forward to broadcast his voice across the area. "Thank you all for coming out today," Asgore began, looking around. "I know it's been quite awhile since I last addressed you like this... In fact, the last time, was a sad time indeed. My sons had just died, and I declared war on the humans." Everyone was silent as Asgore paused, sorrow on his face.

"But, today is nothing so sorrowful," He continued after a moment. "Today, I'm rescinding the declaration of war on the humans. It is something that I should have done long ago, but I was too encompassed in my own grief, and caught up in what I believed to be my duty. I admit, I made a mistake, all those years ago. I should have never declared war on the humans in the first place. I just hope it's not too late to make up for the sins I have wrought upon myself and the rest of monsterkind."

One could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. Monsters everywhere couldn't believe what they were hearing. After all these years, their King was rescinding the declaration of war? It made no sense to those listening.

"But that is not all I have to tell you, today. I have the ultimate joy of declaring a new member of the Royal Family: my new son, Harry." Asgore beckoned Harry forward. Harry stood next to Asgore and gave a little wave to the watching monsters.

There was a moment of silence before mutterings started in the crowd. A few cheers started in the crowd, but most of the crowd was confused talking.

“He looks like-”

“Another Royal child?”

“What about the human that you supposedly captured!?”

Many voices cried out from the crowd, but Asgore put his hand up, waiting until the noise settled down before continuing. "As some of you may notice, Harry is not just any monster. He is also half human."

The noise died down immediately upon this revelation. "I know you may fear humans, but you need not worry about Harry. He would never hurt a fly. I invite you to meet him and decide for yourselves what he is like."

"Does this mean he can break the Barrier?" a voice called out.

"That is yet to be seen," Asgore replied.

"Harry! How did you become a hybrid?" another voice called out.

Harry looked at Asgore for a moment before stepping forward to answer, "I woke up on my sixteenth birthday to myself changing into a hybrid. I suspect it was a inheritance from one of my ancestors."

"How did you get Underground?"

"I must have teleported by accident; we're not really sure what happened..."

"Have you seen stars?"

"Yes?" Harry seemed nonplussed by the question.

"What are stars like?" The question was repeated by several monsters.

"Well... uh... they're like... little pinpricks of light against a dark sky."

"I have a question!" A nasally voice spoke up, and Sans' magic ran cold. He recognized that voice.

"Yes?" Harry looked around, looking for the source of the voice.

"How do you feel, replacing the King's original sons?" the voice asked sweetly.

Sans slipped out of the crowd, and teleported right behind Harry. "dont answer that" he whispered to Harry.

Harry was startled by Sans' sudden appearance.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"I mean, doesn't it just tear you apart, knowing that you're just a replacement?" the voice continued.

"I -what? No! I'm not replacing anybody!" Harry protested. "Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Hehehe. As you wish, my little monarch," the voice said cruelly.

A tiny flower popped up in front of Harry. "Howdy!" it greeted him. "I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower."

Harry stared at the flower strangely. "You're... a... flower?"

"Yes, I'm a flower!" Flowey snapped.

Sans stepped in front of Harry, glaring down at the flower. "Heh. Hey there,  _ bud _ . Why don't you run along, before you do something you'll regret?" Sans said threateningly.

"I'm not afraid of you, Smiley Trashbag!" Flowey spat.

"You should be," Sans growled.

"Ok, ok, what in the world is going on here?" Harry interrupted them, sounding frustrated.

"I would like to know that as well," Asgore rumbled.

"I'm just wondering what qualifies this... part human to be part of the Royal Family," Flowey said in a sickly-sweet tone of voice. "We should be harvesting his Soul to get us past the Barrier! Since when did working with humans get us anything but heartbreak and sorrow?"

Some of the monsters rose their voices in agreement. Harry winced, looking crushed.

"Harry isnt just a human" Sans said forcefully. "hes also a monster"

"Since, what, a week ago? Until then, he was just another human!" Flowey snapped. "And, he's a mage! The kind of human that sealed us Underground in the first place!"

A gasp rose from the watching audience. "look, you little shit; Harry is a better monster than you could ever be!" Sans hissed.

“Then why doesn’t he  _ prove _ it?!” Flowey snarled. He turned to Harry. “Prove to me that you’re worthy to replace Asriel and Chara, and I’ll step down! But I’ll tell you one thing, kiddo: in this world, it’s KILL OR BE KILLED!”

And then the world turned dark as Flowey lashed out a vine at Harry, pulling out his Soul for everyone to see.

Sans watched helplessly, wishing he was in the Judgement Hall, wishing he had the power to stop the flower. But he needn’t have worried. King Asgore strode forward, trident in hand. “Stop this foolishness now!” he thundered.

Sans saw Harry glance at his adopted father and get nicked in the soul by a spinning pellet of white. Sans winced at the same time as the kid. Then, a wall of thorns rose up to block Asgore’s way.

“Ah-ah-ah! I’ve been waiting too long for this, and I can’t have you interfering, King Fluffybuns!” The flower called mockingly.

And Sans watched in despair as Asgore swiped his trident at wall after wall of unending thorns as Harry fought against Flowey in a fight to the death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooop! That was a shotgun of a chapter! Isn't Flowey a jerk? So if you guessed right, yes, this is the chapter that the cover art is from! I'm really proud of the cover art, don't be afraid to look it up, BreiGrace on Deviantart did it for me at $20! :3 The second reason was introducing the fight scene between Flowey and Harry. I've been looking forward to that for AGES. We'll get to see the conclusion next chapter, but hopefully that won't be too long from now. For my Ao3 users the cover art is here: https://flyingdragonite.deviantart.com/art/Angel-Harry-Feathered-Wings-659711040 and here: https://flyingdragonite.deviantart.com/art/Angel-Harry-Glowing-Phase-660518755


End file.
